Secrets and Lies
by TraceAce
Summary: ~Sequel to To Tame The Wild Beast~ Sam and Rob have had a good, albeit secretive, relationship. However, when the Alliance finds out of Rob's deception in dating a 'WWF girl', they quickly decide that the only thing to do is break them up for good.
1. The Secret Relationship

**Chapter 1 – The Secret Relationship**

**Disclaimer: **I own no one but my creations. The rest are owned by WWFE, Vince McMahon, and of course…themselves.

**A/N: **Let's call this a sequel to To Tame The Wild Beast. Kay? Kay. ^_~

**Dedications:** Dedicated to all the people who read and loved the first one…this especially goes out to Crimson Gem, Felicia, VF, Tiara, and Sarah who if not for their comments and prodding this story, no, even the last story, would not be possible. You were the guys who kept me going, even when writer's block hit! ^_^

~~

                "Checkmate!"

                All three men looked toward Kurt Angle as he grinned widely back at them.

                "Kurt, you idiot, checkmate is in chess." Raven pointed out with a deadpan look.

                "Who invited him anyway?" Jericho asked, smashing the cards to the table.

                "He has free rule because he's Sam's cousin, remember?" Rob responded with a smirk.

                "Hello! Can hear you here!" Kurt pouted.

                Kurt continued to look blank as the trio rolled their eyes at the obviously clueless individual. They were around a pretty cheap table given to them by the stadium, and, in pure APA style, were playing cards and basically wasting time. Now, while the fact that if anyone saw them hanging out together there would obviously be a big problem because of that silly 'our companies are trying to destroy each other so no contact with the other side' rule that all four were at that moment under. Of course, the table had been situated in the locker room of Jericho, who was by far the messiest and thus the best place to hide people if a need for it would make itself appear.

                "Where IS Sam, anyway?" Rob asked, putting in another dollar into the bet.

                "You're her boyfriend, you should know." Jericho commented idly. "Ante up."

                "Ants? Where?" Kurt asked, making a face.

                "Not ants, ante…it's…never mind." Jericho sighed. "This game is stupid anyway. I don't know how those guys can play this all the time."

                "Usually has beer." Raven commented, putting his cards down before stretching.

                "I don't like beer." Kurt added, beaming.

                "Permission to strangle him?" Jericho grumbled, glancing at Rob.

                "Denied. That's Sam's job, remember?"

                "There will be no strangling!" Kurt pouted.

                "Yeah, your neck is too big anyway." Jericho rolled his eyes.

                "Are you saying my neck is…"

                "Boys, boys, stop fighting!"

                The four looked up and Rob's face brightened. There stood Sam, sporting a very punk look. Her hair was up in a tight ponytail, and she was adorned in very baggy army pants, a black tee, and around her neck was a black collar. She winked at them and gave them thumbs up with a lopsided smile.

                "Lookin' hot." Jericho commented. Rob shot him a look. "What! She does!"

                "I would appreciate you not verbally checking out my girlfriend, Blondie." Rob replied before walking over to Sam. She giggled at him and gave him a small kiss.

                "Is Mr. Cool getting jealous?" she teased. "I could see why, Chris does have such a sexy body…"

                "SAM!"

                "What! He does!" she laughed.

                "People say I'm a hero." Kurt said proudly, who was still sitting with Raven. Raven stared at Sam oddly, and Kurt just smirked at that. "You know you can never have her." He explained calmly when the three had their backs turned to them.

                "What? I mean…I don't want her." He replied shaking his head, turning to the self-proclaimed hero.

                "Right, and those google eyes are just some kinda eye condition?" he teased. Raven glared at him and said nothing. "I know it's been hard without Molly, but come on…my cousin?"

                Before he could reply, Sam walked over and glanced at the two.

                "Kurtie, what did I tell you about bothering Raven, huh?" she tutted, then smiled widely at Raven. "Sorry about my cousin…I know he's a pain sometimes."

                "It's all right." He replied dully. He stood up, giving a slight shrug. "I have to go now…goodbye."

                Sam raised a brow as Raven started to leave. "Hey Raven, what's up? You alright?" Sam called after him. He didn't answer, but simply closed the door behind him. Immediately Sam whirled to face her cousin who again had the blank expression on his face. "Kurt! What did you do to him?"

                "What! I just told him…mfmfh…" Kurt was cut off by Jericho who had clamped his mouth shut.

                "He shouldn't waste his breath…doesn't have too many brain cells anymore." Jericho said quickly. Sam raised a brow, a bit confused.

                "He must still be kinda upset about how Molly dumped him." Sam frowned. "I should go after him…"

                "But what about…" Rob said, stepping forward.

                "Rob, you know how he gets when he's all depressed." She interjected. "I'll only be a minute, I promise."

                "…Fine, but be quick, alright? I'm starting to think making you make friends was a bad idea." He replied, though his voice held good-humor.

                Rob watched her walk out, then frowned slightly.

                "I don't know what she sees in that guy. I mean he scares me." Kurt commented idly.

                "I think he's good for her. Can get to the parts I can't get too." Rob shrugged, turning to Kurt and Chris. "It's the deep thinkers club and we aren't in it."

                "Hey, I can write poetry and that's deep! Here's my Benoit one…"

                "PLEASE don't." Kurt stopped him. "Even I get a headache from that."

                "Benoit poem?" Rob asked, confused.

                "Yeah, it was before you guys came. He read a poem that basically made fun of Benoit." Kurt explained. "And it sucked, may I add."

                "Isn't that the guy you're like best friends with?" Rob asked with a raised brow.

                "Er…yes…" he nodded.

                "They hated each other back in the day, though." Kurt added.

                "Ah. I see. Hm, that's funny, will that happen to you and Ms. McMahon?" Rob teased the blonde. He made a face.

                "Trust me, I would never be wasted enough for me to be civil to that…to that…" he shuddered.

                "Uh-huh." Rob chuckled.

                Meanwhile, Sam was searching for the ever-elusive Raven, who of course had made himself disappear from sight. She hated when he did it, especially because she wasn't the best searcher, and he was the best at becoming invisible.

                "Raven, you know I'll never find you if you don't make yourself appear." She said out loud, feeling a bit idiotic talking to herself more or less. "And I need to get ready for a match, so let's make this easy, alright? You just pop up like you ALWAYS do."

                "What's the match this time?" She jumped at the voice, and looked up to see Raven relaxing on top of a pretty big crate.

                "Right on time." Sam rolled her eyes.

                "You didn't have to come find me." He said passively.

                "Why, wanted to brood on your own?" she teased. She held an arm up and he pulled her up to the top of the box. She sat next to him, letting her legs dangle down over the wooden object. He stayed silent. "You know I'm gonna make you tell me what's wrong."

                "Yeah." He muttered, rolling his eyes.

                "So out with it, Raven." She prodded him. "It's 'coz of Molly, right?"

                He looked at her. "Yeah…that's it." He shifted a bit uncomfortably. "Hey Sam, can I ask for your opinion on something?"

                "Sure, shoot." She chuckled. "You know, after all the advice you gave me, it's nice to be asked for some for once."

                "Yeah…well…uh…say there's this guy…" he looked down. "And he really really loved someone, but that someone all ready was going out with someone, and was completely happy with that relationship." He looked at her. "What should he do?"

                "Hmm…not sure who you're talking about Rav, but if I were you, I'd wait it out and see what happens…if they break up, you could definitely get some points for being the shoulder she cries on."

                "Yeah, I guess so." He responded. "Listen, you better go catch up with Rob. Don't want you to be late for your match."

                "Yeah, true. You'll watch?" she asked.

                "Of course. It's always fun to watch you make men cry." He managed a half-smile.

                "It's what I do best." She nodded. "Catch you later, Raven."

                "Yeah, goodbye."

                She knew he was still bothered by something, but knew she would have to question him further later. She left him and walked back toward the locker room. Rob, however, met her halfway.

                "He alright now?"

                "Probably not, but I tried." She responded with a shrug. Rob let his arm wrap around her waist.

                "You know, I bet if you thought about it, you'd realize just how much you've changed, Sam." Rob teased.

                "I can still kick your ass." She responded with a smirk.

                "Sounds like a challenge." Rob stated.

                "I love fighting you." Sam stated with a simple shrug.

                "Like rollin' around with me, do you?" he asked slyly.

                "You wish."

                "I don't have too." He winked suggestively at her.

                "If this is a pathetic attempt at getting into my pants, it's not working." She pushed him away with a finger. "Wrestling with you in front of a million plus people doesn't whip me into a sexual frenzy, thanks."

                "You are so not any fun." Rob replied with a small pout.

                "You know I wouldn't be half as fun if I didn't keep you on your toes." She stated, grinning at him. "You don't want a girl that'll just go when you say go, do ya?"

                "Well actually…"

                "And if you say what I think you're going to say, you can forget even touching me never mind anything ELSE."

                "You're absolutely right, dear. You're the only girl for me. Ever. I love you very very much." He said quickly.

                "You even suck and sucking up." She replied with a raised brow.

                "And you know you love me for that."

                "I love you because you're stupid? Sounds right." She grinned.

                "We shouldn't be this close, you know." She pointed out. "Not supposed to be together, remember?"

                "No one's watching us." He said, linking his arm with hers. "Haven't got caught yet, have we?"

                "Still…" she sighed. "I don't want either of us to get in trouble. You'd probably get the brunt of it, too. You know how much your company loves me."

                "Stop worrying, Sam." Rob responded comfortingly. "We'll work through anything, I promise."

                With a loud sigh, she allowed herself to lean against him as they walked.

                "I believe you." She responded with a nod. He smiled at her.

                "I love you Sam…and nothing could stop me from that, not even a hundred people beating my body to a bloody pulp." He paused. "Wow, that sounds kinda painful now that I think about it…"

                "If we ever decide to get married, remind me to write the vows." She rolled her eyes.

                "Hey! I thought that was good." He pouted.

                "Word of advice, sweetie, when trying to woo a girl, you don't mention pulp and bloody in the same breath you said 'I love you'." She shook her head.

                "Why not?" he blinked.

                "I really hope you're slow on purpose sometimes." She groaned.

                "Nope! I'm slow all the time…wait…" he paused. "That was a diss, wasn't it?"

                "In the nicest way, Rob. In the nicest way." She patted his shoulder.

                He pouted but soon grew a perfectly evil grin on his face. He suddenly pulled her into a playful headlock, and she wiggled in his grip.

                "Rob! Lemme go! This ain't right! Don't make me kick your ass right now!" she said as he continued to keep the hold. She swung her weight into him as best she could, though apparently that was not the smartest idea.

                They both sort of flew into the wall near them, RVD slumping down as his back connected. It really didn't hurt either of them, it more or less stunned them for a second as now they were both on the ground, Sam half tangled with her boyfriend. Out of nowhere they both started laughing, the whole scene funny to probably them. She untangled herself from him and sat next to him, shaking her head at the insanity of the moment.

                "We both need help, I think." Sam said, thoughtfully. She blushed when she noticed him staring at her. "What?"

                "I meant what I said before, you know." He stated with a beam.

                "I know." She smiled, then pulled him into a kiss. "And I'd still love you even if you were a bloody pulp."

                "Now who's bad at being romantic?" he teased.

                "Just reiterating." She nodded innocently.

                Neither of them noticed that a single form was watching them. The shadowy figure ducked more into the shadows as the two got up. As the two started to walk away, the figure attempted to follow, only to be stopped by another person.

                "What are you doing?" Raven asked, eyeing the person cautiously. He couldn't make out who it was, and had no time to think about it. The person suddenly produced a pipe and smacked Raven with it. Not ready to take the blow, he was left helpless when it came toward him, and thus slumped down, holding his now bleeding wound. The person scampered off, dropping the pipe as he or she went.

                "Aw, fuck." Raven groaned, looking at the blood that covered his hand. He staggered up, looking around, but found no one was there. Whoever just attacked him had definitely run off. He looked at the pipe as he held his head. He glanced toward where he thought his attacker had went. "What the hell was that about?"

~~

**TBC…**


	2. Shadowy Figure Revealed, A Dark Plot Is ...

**Chapter 2 – Shadowy Figure Revealed, A Dark Plot Is Made**

**A/N: **Nothing to say…just enjoy. Thank you to all who have reviewed, I won't let you down. ^_~

~~

                He barely managed to get to the locker room that Kurt and Jericho were still in, mostly because he had an overwhelming urge to either pass out or puke. The found showed no signs of slowing up, and Raven just knew that whoever hit him was actually going after either Sam or Rob, the way he or she were lurking in the shadows. From the power of the blow, Raven could not help but think that the person was male, but besides that, that was all he could figure. He lifted his hand with effort to smack against the door. Kurt opened it and immediately made a face.

                "Hey Chris, Raven's out here all bloodied." Kurt told the blonde Canadian, who looked over. Raven could not take it anymore and fell to the ground, in a deep faint.

                "He's bleeding on my shoe!" Kurt pouted, moving backwards.

                "Kurt! Ugh, god, get out of the way." Jericho shoved him aside. He stooped down to shake their fallen ally. "Raven? Raven, you all right?"

                "Why are you talking to someone who's not awake?" Kurt smirked. "And they call me stupid."

                "Kurt, shut up and help me pull him in." Jericho said, his patience wearing thin.

                "But I'll get blood all over me!" he cried out.

                "You either help me or so help me your own blood will be 'all over you'." He threatened. Kurt sighed and grudgingly helped pull him inside the room.

                "This stuff will never come out." He stated when they got him inside and shut the door. He was looking at his now blood stained shirt.

                "Do you have a brain or did you forget it somewhere 20 years ago?" Chris asked, moving to get a towel and wet it to clean Raven's wound.

                "Well it's true! Yuck…" He watched in disgust as Chris pressed the cloth to the gash in his head.

                "We really should get him to the trainer." Chris said, still pressing firmly, hoping that it would calm it down.

                "We can't do that! Raven's not on our side." Kurt interjected. "Gonna be a little strange calling help for an Alliance member."

                "Fuck." Chris seethed. Kurt had a point for once. "Well, with that being the case, you have to help me plug up his injury."

                "I am –so- not going to touch him! Ew!" Kurt recoiled.

                "My patience is wearing very thin, Angle. You either help me or…" Chris stood up, glaring at Angle, who stood his ground.

                "Or what?" Kurt challenged.

                "Don't test me." Chris warned, glaring at Sam's cousin.

                "I'm not afraid of you." Kurt replied stubbornly.

                "You little jac—"

                "Urgh…" The fight was instantly broken up when the two turned to see Raven had awoken from his faint. He sat up, looking quite dizzy.

                "Raven! What happened to you? I mean, this jerk over here didn't even CARE that you were bleeding but I saved you!" Kurt beamed while Jericho glared with anger at him.

                "You have to be kidding me!" Jericho exclaimed, exasperated.

                "Some psycho hit me with a steel pipe." He said, holding his head. "I think they were after Sam or Rob or something."

                "How do you know that?" Kurt asked suspiciously.

                "I was walking back to the locker room and it just so happened that I had caught up with the two…they were you know, messing around with each other as usual. Then I saw the guy in the shadows…or saw his outline at least, and he hit me with the damn pipe."

                "Oh." Kurt said, looking suddenly sheepish at his obvious attempt of catching Raven following Sam.

                "You better go to the trainer with that thing." Jericho said as he unsteadily stood up. He took the now bloodied towel from the Alliance member and went to wash it out.

                "I'm worried about Sam, you know. Rob too." He told Kurt as Jericho disappeared into the bathroom in the locker room. "You know they're not supposed to be together."

                "I know that, I'm not stupid." Kurt rolled his eyes and Raven attempted not to look annoyed at the way Angle was treating him…not that he was being unusual, because he never really acted friendly toward him.

                "Can you be any more of a loser, Kirk? Shut the hell up." He pushed the shorter man aside and gave Raven the towel. "This should ebb the bleeding a little. You really should get it checked."

                "No, I'm fine." Raven said. "Speaking of the two, what's happening in that match?" 

                "I don't know, I forgot to look. You know, you showing up all hurt and all." Jericho said. He turned the TV on and on the screen it showed Sam and her tag team partner Jeff Hardy had defeated Rob and Kanyon. Most of the matches Rob and Sam had against each other were planned wins and losses, but it was never really an orderly set up so no one ever noticed except the people who knew about it. Then they would meet up a little later, in one of the rooms, it didn't matter which, and that's where they would ultimately end up sleeping. It was a safe tradition, and with cautiousness neither of them were ever caught.

                But Raven was beginning if that should be an until now sort of statement. He was starting to worry whoever clocked him in the head also was spying on Rob and Sam to tell Stephanie, Shane, and Paul about them. He decided to just not think about it then, as it seemed to give him more of a headache then he wished to have. "I'm going to go now." He said, not wanting Sam to see him like this. Of course, as fate would have it, she walked in at that exact moment, looking quite happy.

                But the expression changed when she saw Raven.

                "Kurt! What did you do to him!"

                "HEY!" he pouted. "Why am I always blamed for everything?"

                "It wasn't Kurt. Don't worry about it." Raven said quietly. "Just a little scratch."

                "Then why does it seem like there's a whole lotta blood outside your body?" she said. "God, I leave you boys alone for fucking 10 minutes and look what happens! Can't even take care of your own kind." She made a face. "You two, go find a medical kit. Sit down, Raven."

                "Don't worry about it S—"

                "Now."

                "Yes ma'am." He sat down on the chair she pointed too, and Jericho came back with the kit supplied in each locker room.

                "He looks so gross." Kurt made a face. "You don't have to do this you know."

                "Kurt, just…go." She groaned. "Go get a drink or something."

                "I think I will! Hmmph." He stomped out, as Jericho glanced at Raven too and made a face.

                "Er…I think I'll go with him. The blood's making me kinda sick to my stomach." He excused himself.

                "Wussies." She smirked. He gave a shrug and closed the door behind him. "Well, let's do this. I'm good at fixing up stuff like this, you know."

                "I figure as much, you being big bad Hardcore girl." He said. "You really don't need to do this…"

                "Yes, I can leave you to die, but I don't think such things should be on a conscience, don't you agree?" she chuckled, brushing the hair that was covering the wound. "You might want to take a shower after I'm done with you."

                "Sounds like a plan." He mumbled. "Ow! Shit!" He recoiled the minute she touched the cloth she was fiddling with the minute she opened the kit.

                "Don't be such a baby. And you call yourself hardcore." She chuckled.

                "It burns…" he twitched.

                "No duh, that's what it's supposed to do." She looked at it closely and sighed. "It doesn't look like it's bleeding too much anymore." She grabbed the towel that he was using before and washed it off. She lightly swiped most of the caked blood on his forehead away. "So how did you get this beauty?"

                "Someone hit me." He said, choosing not to add the fact about how the person was following her, or might have been. "Crazy people. Heh."

                "Well, I'm sorry you went through a hit and run, then. As strange as that sounds." She chuckled. "You alright now?"

                He looked at her with her concerned frown and managed a smile. "Thanks to you."

                "Good! Always glad to be of service. I have to go meet up with Rob." She explained, a bit cheerfully. "Can you get back alright by yourself?"

                "Yeah." He nodded, trying not to look disappointed. She smiled.

                "Great!" she nodded her head. "Bye, Raven!"

                He watched her walk out, and when she closed the door he finally shook his head and let out a quiet sigh. "Of all the females in the world…" He touched the mostly cleaned wound. "…It had to be her. Life likes kicking me around a lot."

~~

                "You sure you saw it?" Stephanie asked, letting her fingers rap against the desk she was sitting behind.

                "Yes, of course." Shawn nodded. "Raven saw it, too, I think…he surprised me so I accidentally hit him."

                "No matter…this is very disturbing news…and after Rob said he had nothing to do with Sam, he said it to all of us!" Shane shook his head. "We have to do something. We can't let her someone twist him into giving her secrets."

                "I'm sure there is a very easy way of going about it. What is the number one way a relationship can break up on bad terms?" Paul asked. Shane, Shawn, and he all looked at Stephanie.

                "What are you looking at me for?!" she demanded, annoyed.

                "Well, you're the only girl…" Shane covered. "What would make you break up with someone?"

                "Oh, in that case…well, I would say…cheating. Definitely." Stephanie confirmed.

                "Cheating, huh?" Shane repeated. "You may go, Shawn."

                "Y-yes sir!" he walked out, obviously proud of himself at his findings. When the door to the office closed, the three continued.

                "Cheating won't be hard to pull off."

                "From the way it sounds, Rob would never cheat on her." Stephanie frowned.

                "Of course he wouldn't, he's not like that." Paul continued, starting to smile. "But we can…make it look like that, no?"

                "Make it look like that?" Stephanie asked, confused.

                "I see what you're saying…hey Steph, it was like that time when you caught Hunter with Trish…it looks wrong, but it was entirely innocent." Shane offered.

                "You enjoy reminding me don't you?" Stephanie muttered.

                "We have to plan this carefully…because if it goes through, we don't ever have to worry about the two ever again." Heyman grinned largely. "And we won't have to act like we knew…it would probably do a world of good on his attitude. He'll get more aggressive with all the happy feelings gone."

                "It sounds like a plan." Stephanie grinned evilly. "And I can't wait to destroy that bitch's bubble. I still haven't gotten her back for the disrespect she put me through."

                "So are we agreed? Break up Sam and Rob?" Shane asked, glancing at his two business partners.

                "Agreed." Heyman and Stephanie replied together.

                "This is going to be fun." Heyman chuckled darkly. "Let's start planning now…"

~~

                Sam reached Rob's room as promptly as she could, and proceeded to dig out the card to open the door out of her pocket. With a quick motion the ding sounded, signifying that she could enter the room. She walked in, ready to spend a perfect night of sleeping. She was unusually tired, perhaps it was because of the entire ordeal with poor Raven. She still didn't really understand how it happened, but it sort of worried her.

                "Sam, that you?" She put her bag down and turned to look toward where her boyfriend's voice came from. He exited from the bathroom, only towel clad, obviously looking to see who had entered his room since she hadn't answered him.

                "You know, it could have been some crazy fan wanting to get in your pants, and you walk out in only a towel? Tsk tsk." She smirked.

                "Who says I didn't want it to be a crazed fan?" he grinned wryly. He turned and headed back into the bathroom, and came out a minute later now wearing boxers, which of course was better then nothing when it came to him. "Bet they'd be fun."

                "You know, I can't believe I'm associated with a pig like you sometimes." She rolled her eyes. He walked over to her, placing a kiss on her lips that she did not object to.

                "Remember now?" he asked with a playful look.

                "I think I still need a little reminding." She said after 'much' thought.

                "Whatever you wish. I don't want you to forget, after all." He pressed another kiss, in which she couldn't help but laugh into. He pulled away, giving a 'what the heck?' look.

                "You know, I shouldn't let you push me over this easily." She said. "It's entirely against my nat…" He cut her off with another kiss, and it quieted any complaints about anything in an instant.

                "What was that?" Rob asked breathlessly.

                "Nothing." She mumbled into his lips. "Nothing at all."

~~

**TBC…**


	3. The Dress Problem

**Chapter 3 – The Dress Problem**

**A/N:** Titles are boring…heh! 

                She knew she was partially awake, but. Like usual, she fought to stay asleep. She allowed herself to curl closer into Rob, who slept quietly next to her, hiding her face into the nape of his neck. It bought her a few minutes, but soon even Rob had finally stirred awake.

                "Sam." Rob whispered.

                "Mm?" she asked at the quiet voice.

                "You up?"

                "No." she responded, cuddling into him more.

                "You should be." He replied, poking her lightly.

                "I don't want to get up." She moaned.

                "When do you?" he asked. She sighed as he sat up, sitting on the edge of the bed. He reached over and patted her side. "Come on, it's already daylight."

                "Let them find me." She pouted. "I don't care."

                "Well I do." He laughed. "Now come on." He stood up and stretched. With much effort, she finally sat up, covering herself with the blanket even though she had both sets of undergarments on. She winced at the light from the sun that was pouring in through the window she was face. She felt him go onto the bed again, and leaned against him when he wrapped his arms around her blanketed waist.

                "You mad at me for waking you up?" he asked.

                "Of all your faults, you think I'd be mad at you for that?" she smirked.

                "Thanks." He replied , shaking his head. "Anyway, you better get dressed and head out. Ya know how the Alliance is, early call and such."

                "I know, I know." She sighed. "I wish we didn't have to sneak around like this. Hasn't Vince offered you a job in the WWF yet?"

                "Well actually…" he paused. "Yeah, he has."

                This caused her to turn her head to look at him. "He has? When?"

                "A while ago." He responded slowly.

                "Not following here…and you aren't in the WWF now why?"

                "Uh…because I said no?" he got up from her, and she quickly followed, still having the sheet wrapped around her.

                "You did WHAT?!" 

                "I told him no." he explained with a small shrug.

                "Rob! That could have been our chance…our chance to be a NORMAL couple."

                "Actually, normal isn't a word for us in any sort of situation."

                "Not laughing here, buddy." She stated, looking annoyed. "How could you say no? And, more importantly, HOW COULD YOU NOT TELL ME?!"

                "Because I knew if I did I'd get my ass kicked?" he squeaked.

                "URGH! Now I am leaving." She grabbed her clothes and shuffled into the bathroom. Rob attempted to follow but she slammed the door in his face, almost causing him to slam into it face first.

                "Sam, honey, don't be mad…" he called to her. She didn't respond, and he sighed, knowing it was no use to calm her down through the door. He sat next to it, putting his face in his hands. She came out a few minutes later, and he stood up to find himself eye to eye with one very angry Samantha Wesley. He took a step back at the sharp glare he received, knowing the look all too well.

                "Don't even say anything, Rob, because I want to break one of your limbs right about now." She spat.

                "Sam, just LISTEN to me." She started walking from him to get her bag. He caught her arm and she went to swing at his face, but he caught it. They stood there a second, looking like idiots.

                "Let me go." She said in a dangerous tone.

                "Not until you listen to me." He replied with intent in his voice that kind of took her aback. Rob had never really said anything in a forcible manner. "Now I'm going to let you go, if you promise not to give me a black eye." She glared at him. "Promise?"

                After a very long pause of them just glaring at each other, she finally broke the stare and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, fine." She muttered reluctantly.

                He released her, and she rubbed her wrist, as that was where Rob's hands ended up grasping at her the most. She silently brooded over the fact that for once she wasn't in charge, and said nothing to her boyfriend, didn't even look at him. "I know you're upset with me, Sam, but you gotta look at it the way I see it. ECW has made me who I am today, and I can't just leave it when it needs me the most."

                "So what, is your damn company more important that me?" she asked with harshness, looking up at him finally.

                "You know that isn't fair." He said calmly. "I love you because you're my girlfriend, I love ECW because it's like my family. Would you leave Kurt if I told you to?"

                "Well now that you mention it…" she trailed off.

                Rob rolled his eyes. "Bad example, I guess. But do you understand where I'm coming from, Sam?"

                She stared at him for a moment and most of the anger sort of disappeared from her features. "I guess so." She admitted resignedly.

                "You still mad?" he asked, looking at her straight in the eyes. "Sam?"

                She let loose a heavy sigh. "No, I suppose not."

                "You're going to still be mad at me, aren't you?"

                "Am I that obvious?" she pouted. Rob smiled, placing a kiss on her forehead.

                "No matter what happens, you're the only one for me, got it?" he promised. "All this company crap can never keep us apart. Once it's over with, we can be normal...abnormal...insane…dysfunctional...I'll let you pick the disorder." She couldn't help but laugh. "So can I still go with you to that wedding?"

                "Wedding? What?" she asked, confused. Rob raised a brow.

                "Remember? Your cousin or whatever? Isn't that tomorrow? I remember you making Kurt invite me, Raven, and Chris."

                "Weddi…oh shit! Wedding! I forgot!" she gasped. "How could I forget?!"

                "I don't know, Kurt was talking about it yesterday." He pointed out.

                "And when do I ever listen to him?" Sam asked. "Crap. I need to get a dress. Or a skirt. Or something. Urgh! Busy busy busy." She grabbed her bags. "I have stuff to do. I have to get going. Go—"

                A loud knocking of the door cut her off. Both of them froze. 

                "Rob? Ya awake, man?" called the voice from the other side of the door.

                "Fuck." Rob hissed. "Hurry, get into the closet." To the person at the door, he spoke a little louder. "Be right there, I ain't dressed yet, man."

                "You really need to wake up earlier, dude."

                Rob ushered her into the slightly tight closet and with effort sat down, holding her stuff to her chest. "Close the door." She whispered, and he nodded. He quietly shut it and then pulled on a pair of pants. She watched through the holes in the door as he walked over and opened it.

                "Kanyon. What a uh…pleasant surprise." He paused. "What brings you so…early in the morning?"

                "I'm real sorry, RVD, but I needed ta talk to you." Kanyon entered without really asking if he could, and RVD just sort of blinked, shrugged, and closed the door.

                "Were you talking to someone?" he asked, curiously.

                "Just to myself." Rob said innocently, never losing his cool.

                "Oh." Kanyon said, though sounded a bit confused. "Yourself?"

                "Yeah, don't you ever do that?" Rob asked.

                Kanyon paused. "Er…yeah, of course, Rob."

                "Cool." He nodded. "You need something?"

                "Yeah, actually…I need some advice, Rob. I'm so ashamed." He sniffed. Sam tried not to shift too much, but there was something jabbing her hard in the back and it was annoying her. "Hey, did you hear something?"

                "Probably the people next door. They've been doing a little something something, if you get my drift." Rob covered with ease. Sam always marveled that, his ability to cover things up with quick thought-up lies.

                "That's what I wanted to talk about…Rob, I need sex." Sam couldn't see Rob's face, but she almost choked on her spit and tried to see more.

                "Ah, Kanyon, dude, I don't go that…" Rob's voice held sudden nervousness.

                "Not with YOU. With Lita." Sam tried to hold back a snicker at that. The day Lita slept with a guy like Kanyon was probably the day the world ended.

                "Why are you telling me, exactly?"

                "Because you're smooth! You probably know all the secrets to get chicks to bed with you." Kanyon said proudly.

                "I don't know why you assume that. I'm not that kind of guy." Rob replied, sounding annoyed all of a sudden.

                "Seriously? I would think girls are all over ya."

                "I don't want to disrespect girls like that." He explained.

                "Spoken like a guy who's attached to someone. Who's the girl, Rob?" Kanyon pressed.

                "I'm not, I'm just saying girls don't like pigs. They like good men who respect them for what they are, human beings. Alright? That's my advice." He shrugged.

                "That seems hard." Kanyon pouted. "Can't I just fuck them?" Sam was starting to wish she could just go out and kick his ass. "Well, whatever. Oh, by the way, we have a meeting or something today, not to be missed! I gotta go now. Bye Rob."

                She waited in silence until Kanyon left, then burst out the door with much glee. She was starting to get claustrophobic.

                "I hope you were never like that. Ever." She said as he helped her up.

                "He has the mind of a fifteen year old and the looks of a fifty year old. No girl in the right mind would fuck him, so don't worry about it." He smiled. "But now I think you better go. I'll meet you in your room tonight, okay? As soon as I can."

                "Yeah." She nodded. He caught her arm as she started to leave.

                "Listen, I'm sorry I didn't say yes. There's just some things I need to finish before I finally feel like I can let it go." He explained quietly. She nodded slowly.

                "I know. I understand. I respect your decision." She said, looking down.

                "You do? Honestly?" he asked, sounding a bit surprised.

                "If it's that important to you, then yes. I do. I just wish we could be together, you know? I'm getting sick of this sneaking around, never being able to tell anyone about it…" she trailed off.

                "Well, Sam, it hurts me to say this, but maybe we should take a break or something until…"

                "No!" she shook her head at the mere thought. "I don't want to be away from you."

                "Are you sure?" he asked, a serious tone obviously taking over his voice.

                "Positive. That's the last thing I'd want to do.  I could never…oh, it'd be too horrible to think about." She dropped her bag and flung her arms around him in a sudden hug. He looked at her in surprise but hugged back. "You're the reason why life has meaning now, Rob. I didn't know anything until I met you. I would never leave that because of my job…for a dishonest sort of trouble, yes, but not because of my job, or my rep. It's not important to me anymore."

                Rob felt himself blush a bit at his girlfriend's words, knowing she meant every word. "Then if you're sure, I'm glad. Phew, I'm glad I asked that. I was hoping you'd answer like you did." She smiled and let him go, taking her bag again.

                "I'll see you later, Rob. Bye." She left the room, leaving Rob standing there, still looking a bit dazed. A small smile crept onto his face, as the realization that he could be one of the luckiest guys in the world to have the chance to get into Sam Wesley's head and especially her heart. "She's a special one, alright." He mumbled to himself as he collected loose clothing of his on the ground.

~~

                "You didn't get a dress yet?!" Kurt stared at her in disbelief.

                "I'm sorry Kurt, it kinda slipped my mind."

                "I was talking about it yesterday! How could you forget?!"

                "Like I actually listen to you ramble. Hello Kurt, welcome to Earth." She smirked.

                "This is a disaster!" he threw his hands up. She stared at her, trying not to laugh at his overaction. "This is just great."

                "I could go naked, Kurt."

                "Woohoo! Can I go like that too!?" Chris grinned lazily, looking up from his spot on Sam's very unused bed.

                "NO! And that goes especially to you, Chris." He shuddered. "Ew…"

                "Hey, I wouldn't talk." Chris smirked.

                "And what's THAT supposed to mean?!" Kurt exclaimed, angrily.

                "You're probably not the best sight naked either." Chris said, sitting up, his usual dignified smirk crossing his face.

                "Alright, alright, before this becomes some kind of horrific stripping contest gone wrong that would end up scarring me for life, let's turn the topic back on me and my lack of dress." Sam cut Chris and Kurt off.

                The two glared at each other, then turned her attention to Sam.

                "I still can't believe…"

                "Save it, Kirk." Chris rolled his eyes. Kurt pouted but said nothing.

                "I need one of you to help me find a dress." She pointed at the two. Neither men seemed to want to jump to the challenge.

                "Make Kurt do it, he's more of a girl."

                "Hey watch it pal!" Kurt said, growing angry again.

                "God! Can you ever be civil to each other?!" Sam sighed loudly. "Okay, look, I really need your help and…"

                "Hate to say this, Sam, but we're even less girly then you are." He glanced at Kurt. "Well, some more then others." He smirked at the glare that was shot at him. "We're not big on dresses, you see…"

                "I mean, look at Chris' taste in clothing." Kurt piped.

                "What are you talking about!? My taste is great!" Chris cried out, automatically defensive.

                Sam sighed, getting up, shaking her head. "I don't know why I bother." With ease, she slipped out of the room, neither of them noticing her leave because they were too busy fighting over who was better.

                Now, of course, she had no options at all. After all, Rob and Raven were a bit busy pretending like that never talked to a member outside of the Alliance in their lives, and Chris and Kurt were too busy trying to out beat each other in verbal fighting. After much thought, she finally thought of the only other person she'd ever be able to ask.

                Unfortunately, she wasn't there. "Lita's not here right now, sorry to say. Her and Matt are most likely necking somewhere."

                And even more unfortunate, with this information, she was finally down to one option.

                "In that case, I need your help. I'm sure you know enough about girls to know what's cool and all. Can you help me find a dress, Jeff?"

                He was a bit taken aback by the question, and stared at her oddly.

                "You want me to give you clothing advice?" he repeated, sounding completely surprised.

                "Well I tried to get Chris or Kurt, but they were too busy fighting over who was more girlish or whatever and who looked better naked…" she trailed off.

                "They didn't start stripping, right? Because that would just traumatize me just hearing that, you know." Jeff shuddered.

                "Exactly my sentiments! I got out of there after attempting to ask a few times. They give me a headache, I swear."

                "I could imagine." Jeff nodded in agreement.

                "So will you come? I need at least a second opinion." She shifted uncomfortably. She felt pathetic; she was asking an almost complete stranger to go along with her.

                "Sure, why not? I don't have anything else to do." He shrugged lazily. "Let me go put on my sneakers."

                She waited at his doorframe, and soon he came out, wearing his now very trademark cap.  She managed a smile, feeling a little uncomfortable around him. It was her nature to be untrusting of people she didn't know, but she knew that she needed someone to help her. She didn't know what was nice and what wasn't; dressing up wasn't her thing.

                "You want to take your car?" he asked, tilting his head, still holding the door open.

                "Er…car?" she asked.

                "No car?" he inquired.

                "No car."

                "Hm. We'll have to take my motorcycle then." He nodded.

                "M-motorcycle? Oh no, I am NOT going to go on a motorcycle. No way, uh-uh!" Jeff had disappeared into his room again, walking out with now two helmets. He threw one at her and she caught it with ease.

                "Well I'll meet you there if you don't, then. Might be a long walk." Jeff smirked.

                She watched him close the door and start walking. She looked at the helmet and shook her head.

                "Hey, wait up!" she called after him, jogging to catch up with the younger Hardy brother.


	4. Mall Mayhem

**Chapter 4 – Mall Mayhem**

**A/N: **Sorry this hasn't be updated recently…I had a busy week last week…damn 'life' thingy…always sneaking up on me. LMAO. ^_~

                "Isn't this fun?" Jeff asked as they sped down the road. She did not answer, but instead curled her fingers even tighter around his waist, so tight that her knuckles were purely white. "Relax. I'm an expert at this!"

                "Not loving this." She squeaked, her heart pounding in her chest. He laughed.

                "Maybe you should open your eyes." Jeff called back to her.

                "And watch as we smash into the pavement? No thank you." She felt him turn. "Ugh, I think I'm gonna be sick…"

                "Well don't throw up on me!" Jeff cringed. "You're supposed to be extreme, how can you not take a motorcycle ride?!"

                "Because I'm extreme, not insane." She replied with a pout. She finally let one eye open but only saw his back as she had made sure to be as close to the brother as possible. There was no such thing as being uncomfortable basically clinging to someone she barely knew. She didn't want to fly off the bike because she was embarrassed about it.

                Suddenly they just stopped, the motorcycle coming to a halt. She did not dare to look where they were.

                "Uh…you can let me go now…"

                "Is it over?" she asked in a whisper. 

                "Yes, and I sort of need to breathe now." He pointed out.

                "Sorry." She said before letting him go. He rubbed his ribs.

                "Got quite a grip there."

                "I choked people a lot as a child." She replied with a shrug.

                "I wouldn't put it past you." He coughed. He lifted his shirt to glance at his stomach. "Jees! You gave me a bruise!"

                "Can you leave the checking yourself for later?" she sighed. "I can get off this thing, right?"

                "No, you're gonna stay here." He rolled his eyes. She sighed, cursing her luck of lack of normal people to go shopping with, and slowly got off the bike. She looked at it in disdain as he got off too.

                "Where are we?" she asked.

                "Nearby mall. I heard about it. Somewhere in here has to be the perfect dress for you." Jeff replied, sounding a bit proud of himself.

                "This place looks like it could take days to get through!" she cried out.

                "Well we better start walking!" Jeff replied cheerfully.

                She trudged after the overly optimistic guy, wishing she had found anyone but him. First the motorcycle ride, now the whole fact she was going to be shopping in a mall that was probably worse then any maze she could ever be stuck in. She stayed near him, huffing when people smacked into her side (because it WAS the number one thing people were doing…getting in her way.)

                "You have frustration problems, don't you?"

                "No!" A mother of a child accidentally smacked into her. "HEY! WATCH IT!" The mother blinked rapidly and ran off as Sam smirked with satisfaction.

                "I'm starting to understand why people don't like taking you out." Jeff stated, rolling his eyes.

                "And what's that supposed to mean!?" she demanded.

                "If I tell you the truth will you beat my ass in?" he asked.

                "Probably."

                "Nothing. Nothing at all." He said quickly., smiling innocently.

                "I thought so. Let's just find a dress and go."

                "Oh no no no, dresses are an ART!" he said in a fake French accent. "Not just any will do! Not at all! Especially for a wedding."

                "Jeff, this is not that important, come on…gack!"

                Jeff of course, who seemed a bit too happy about helping out, dragged her toward a store. "This looks like a fun place, I'm sure we'll find something here!"

                It was proving to be a very boring task at hand. She blandly looked through the selections, saying no to each. She almost wished she had the dress she wore that Molly owned, but she had taken that back. It wasn't until a few hours into it that she found the one.

                "This is it!" she cried out, snapping Jeff out of his sleeping-standing-up sort of daze.

                "What?" Jeff asked, shaking his head.

                "I found it! It's perfect!" she nodded proudly. He glanced at it and whistled in appreciation.

                "You will glow in this one, Sam." He approved. It was a dress that was different shades of blue, but the way it was put together it was perfectly made. She looked for her size and took it, humming slightly. She could go to her hotel room and pretend this day didn't happen. It just boosted her spirits.

                "Better try it on though." Jeff pointed out. She sighed at this, but nodded. It was just a precautionary chore, but she knew she had to do it. With much grumbling, she left to the changing room. After a second, Jeff followed, whistling some strange tune. It didn't take long for her to get a ticket and she left Jeff standing there as she entered the only remaining dressing room. She opened it, wincing at the fact that it had an open bottom.

                "Cheap ass place." She muttered as she realized the door would not lock. This was probably why this one wasn't being used. She sighed as she kicked off her shoes. She looked at the dress again, and managed a small smile. In truth, she did not really mind wearing dresses…not that she'd ever admit that. There was a girlie side to her, after all, and that just happened to be the part. Just as she pulled her shirt over her head, she finally heard the commotion happening outside.

                "Sir, you can't…" A rush of feet sounded, and she made the mistake of peeking out, forgetting to pull on her shirt again before doing so. Instantly the 'sir' appeared to her eyes…Jeff Hardy running like something was going to kill him. He spotted her looking and without pausing ran towards her. She stepped back in shock, and especially grew surprised when Jeff entered her dressing area, broken lock and all, and jumped into her arms. She caught him only on instinct, and was about to drop him and scream at him until he put his hand to her mouth.

                "Jeff Hardy Jeff Hardy!" voices squealed. She struggled to keep him up as the patter of feet sounded. She almost shrieked into his hand when she saw someone peek under. The eyes obviously did not see Jeff, though, as it passed her room by.

                "Alright girls, you have to leave now." The woman who gave her ticket suddenly said. A chorus of 'awws' sounded, and soon the noise died down and Sam was still standing there like a complete idiot, holding this multi-colored hair man in her arms while she didn't even have her shirt on. She dropped him after a very long pause, and glared at him.

                "…The hell was that about?" she demanded.

                "Er…your shirt…it…" She turned red and turned around, slipping it back on. "I'm sorry. Crazy groupies almost killed me…"

                "Well in that case, they're gone…get out." She demanded with a huff.

                "But they're obviously…out there….all ready to maim me with their insane minds…"

                "And I'm gonna maim YOU with my fists if you don't get out!" she warned.

                "Woah woah woah tiger, I'm serious. Those girls are SCARY!" he whimpered.

                "Are you a man or a mouse?" she groaned. "They're a bunch of girls for christ's sake!"

                "Squeak." He replied and Sam groaned.

                "Out."

                "No, don't make me…"

                "Well we can't just sit in here all day!"

                "I'm liking that idea…" he trailed off.

                "I am not going to sit in here because a few girls want to grope you!" she stated with exasperation.

                "Groping?! It'll be that bad?!" Jeff exclaimed.

                "I am ten seconds away from…"

                "Alright, alright, we need to sneak out though." He sighed.

                "Sneak out, huh?" she asked, suddenly glancing at the extra clothing on the rack in her room.

                "Wow that's an evil look what are you…" he stared in the direction of where she was looking. "Oooh no. No. No WAY!"

                "They'll never find you this way…" she laughed evilly. "Looks like your size too…"

                "It's a DRESS! D-R-E-S-S!" he exclaimed.

                "I can spell, thanks. And you're quite observant. Yes, this –is- in fact a dress." 

                "I am not going to wear a dress, Sam. There's some things that I would never do…"

                "Think of it as another step up in the originality department. Just put that thing on, hide yourself under that ugly hat over there, and we'll get through easy!"

                "That's not original! That's cross dressing!"

                "Details!"

                "I can't…"

                "And I'll wear your stuff and pretend to be you and run like crazy, thus getting you time to get to your dress paid for as well as mine and get out of there." Sam continued.

                "You don't even look like me." Jeff pouted. Sam rolled her eyes and turned him to the mirror. They both stared at their reflection.

                "Let's see…same hair color, same height, same figure…with the difference of one thing that can be covered up in your baggy stuff." She grinned.

                He paused, staring at himself and then at her. With a long breath, he finally nodded. "Fine. But don't look."

                "You rip your shirt off in front of more the a million people every week, and you're embarrassed with me?"

                "Yes."

                "Ugh. You are one strange person, Hardy." She whirled around, rolling her eyes. "Hurry it up."

                She tapped her foot as she heard him fumbling behind her, and did as she promised until she heard a loud crash behind her. She turned around and stared down at Jeff who was basically fighting with the dress. It was over his head and he couldn't seem to get it down.

                "Men." She rolled her eyes, helping Jeff up. She went behind him and unzipped the zipped, and it instantly fell to his shoulders and he could see.

                "I knew that." He muttered, embarrassed. She zipped him up.

                "There." She snickered.

                "You're laughing at me." He groaned.

                "No, not at all." She replied, trying not to laugh.

                "I can't…"

                "No no no, don't worry about it. You look…uh…cute…"

                "I look like I'm wearing a dress." He replied, deadpan.

                "And you are! See, your image is just right!"

                "Remind me to shoot you when this is over." He grumbled.

                "Alrighty, let's see." She grabbed his clothes. "Not too bad…now you turn around, Miss Jeff."

                He glared at her and spun around, muttering to himself.

                With ease she threw on his clothes; put on his cap. If she kept her head down, she really could look like Jeff. He turned around and stared at her a moment.

                "Gees, you were right. If you had my beard, we could be twins!"

                "I won't be growing a beard any time soon, sorry." She smirked. She walked over and swiped the hat that was on the rack that used to hold the extra dress and plopped it on his head. "Hide your hair as well as you can."

                He sighed and did so, trying to look as upbeat as he could about wearing a dress. "Ready." He mumbled.

                "Alright, I'm gonna take off….you pay for the stuff, here." She threw him her credit card. "Don't buy any more dresses now though."

                "Ha ha." He glared at her. She pulled his cap down.

                "Time to trick some teenagers." She said, giving a wink, suddenly finding the whole idea fun.

                It was as Jeff had thought…the minute she went out the girls spotted him and the case began. Without worry, she sprinted out the store, the girls on her heels. She dodged people walking, easily keeping one step ahead of the insane girls. Well, that is, until she made the mistake of not watching where she was going for a minute and smashed into someone. She tripped and landed on the person, and when she opened her eyes she realized she had crashed into, out of everyone in the mall, Chris Jericho. They both stared at each other in shock.

                "Look! It's Chris Jericho too!" it snapped them both out of it, and Sam jumped up, dragging Chris up along with her.

                "Run now, explain later!" she cried, pulling him along. Confused and still a little dazed, he followed wordlessly. The two made it outside some time later, both out of breath and the girls still on their tails. "Where's your car!?"

                "This way." He said, and Sam followed him there. They both ducked into the back seat when he managed to open it. Both held their breath as they heard the girls pass. After a few minutes, they heard their voices as they retreated away, giving up their search for them.

                "Thank fucking god." Sam breathed.

                "Okay, what the hell was that? And why the hell does it look like you're wearing Jeff's clothes?" Chris asked her.

                "It's a long story." She coughed.

                "Indulge me." He smirked.

                "Well, those girls were after Jeff and…I put him a disguise and then dressed up as him to get the girls off his heels for a bit…"

                "Disguise?"

                "Dress. It's a nice dress…"

                "He's wearing a dress?!"

                "Yep."

                "I HAVE to see this." Chris declared.

                The found him by the motorcycle, holding Sam's clothes and dress, plus his own dress which was still on him. His face darkened when he saw Chris. "What is he doing here?"

                "Nice dress Jeffy! It does your figure good!" Chris joked as Jeff shot him a glare.

                "We can change in his car." She pointed to Chris. "The girls are totally gone."

                "I think I'm going to crawl up and die instead, okay?" he grumbled.

                Chris snickered as Sam just rolled her eyes at the now very red Jeff Hardy. Sam smiled to herself as they walked to the car, knowing that this was going to be one hell of a story to tell Rob later that night.


	5. The Evil Plot Continues

**Chapter 5 – The Evil Plot Continues**

**A/N:** Sorry this took so long; my muses went on strike. ^_^;;

          "Where is he now?" Stephanie questioned, leaning forward in her seat.

          "From what we've heard, he's shacked up by Sam's tonight, Ms. McMahon. We overheard talk of that, and a wedding tomorrow or something." Heyman shrugged. "I don't know though…

          "We have to keep them as separated as possible so the whole thing blows up even more!" Stephanie said angrily.

          "But Ms. McMahon…you don't understand, there's nothing going on tomorrow…"

          "Then make something, Heyman. She's right." Shane snapped. He ran a hand through his hair. "Damnit, why did it have to be our best player that deceives us?"

          "I assure you Shane, Rob is just bad with his emotions…once he's taken away from her he'll move on, help us win…" Heyman trailed off.

          "You better hope so, Heyman, or it'll be all our heads." He replied gruffly. "Austin can only do so much by himself, even if he thinks he's the best or whatever."

          "So what would you like me to start?" Heyman asked, his brow raised.

          "Just say we need him or something…one of the wrestlers have to know about it, the message will get to him." Stephanie sighed. "I swear, good help is hard to come by these days…and if Rob isn't in this office in two hours, Heyman, so help me…"

          "He will be here in less, I am sure of that." Heyman said with a tone of distaste. He held his tongue when it came to the McMahon siblings.

          Heyman moved out of the room, easily spreading the word that Rob was needed. He didn't particularly lying to his company, especially to Rob who had always been true to him. It wasn't as if he were leaving the company, just having a relationship. "Orders are orders" he muttered, shaking his head.

          He had a feeling that what was to come was going to make Rob worse instead of better. But, of course, the McMahons never did think ahead of their actions.

~~

          "So then the girls went after me, and who do I bump into? Chris. It was crazy…he even saw Jeff in the dress. I couldn't help but feel bad…"

          "Sam? Feeling bad? Uh-oh, alert the presses…" Rob teased.

          "I should put you in a dress…I bet that'd be funnier." She raised a brow at her boyfriend.

          "Ahh…sorry, I'm not the dress type. Strange figure, you see…"

          "Chicken…" she smirked.

          "So when am I going to see your dress, huh?" he prodded.

          "Tomorrow." She smirked.

          "But that's so far from now!" he complained.

          "You can wait." She stated, cuddling up against him more in the bed. They had been entertaining themselves with movies for a good three hours then, big manly movies of course as sappiness was not tolerated by hardcore wrestlers.

          "So then what happened?" He asked, his head against the pillow as he looked her over.

          "What? Oh." She shrugged. "So we ran like hell and ended up in his car, hiding of course. And they gave up and we found Jeff and all was well in the world." She grinned. "Not much of a dramatic ending."

          "I can't believe you got Jeff Hardy to wear a dress." Rob mused.

          "It was either that or he was going to be ripped to shreds." She pointed out.

          "True. And I bet if there were guys there and they knew it were you, you would have gotten chased anyway." He grinned. "And I would have had to kick their asses."

          "Protective much?"

          "Maybe." He shrugged. "But I think I'm entitled to it, don't you think?"

          "Whatever ya say, Rob." She rolled her eyes, then jumped at the sudden knock at her door. With a groan, she hurried Rob into a safe hiding spot before answering it half-heartedly. She was surprised to see Raven there, a little out of breath.

          "They're looking for Rob." He said in a rush of words. "I don't know why…"

          "What?" Rob had come out at the instant he knew all was clear. Raven looked toward him.

          "Stephanie has everyone looking for you." He explained. "You have to get back."

          Rob's face darkened, as did Sam's. "Why?"

          "Don't know man." Raven shrugged helplessly. "Pretty sure you better get going now."

          Rob paused, then shook his head. "You're right. This might be a trap though." He glanced from Raven to Sam. "Raven, stay here with her, please? Just in case."

          "Rob I can…"

          "I know, Sam, but I would feel better if he were here too." Rob explained. "Please?"

          Sam sighed at this and nodded. "If he wants too."

          "Perfect." He stated, not even bothering to ask Raven if he wanted too or not. She knew it was a bit rude of her boyfriend, but she also knew if it was an inconvenience And in minutes Rob was gone, promising to be back as soon as possible. He swore, closing the door behind him.

          "So you know nothing?" Sam asked Raven. Raven shook his head.

          "Nothing. Sorry." Raven frowned. Sam groaned and flopped onto the bed. Raven raised a brow.

          "This is so not cool, Rav. You know that?" she pouted. "I'm starting to think Rob doesn't want this to be easy." She felt the bed sink in and looked up to see Raven sitting on the bed as well.

          "'Course he does, but it's not as simple as…"

          "Yeah, yeah, I know. Loyalty and what not." She replied with a sigh.

          "Stop sulking. You're getting worse then me."

          For some reason, she laughed at this, not in a mean way of course, but it was a good laugh. Sam glanced at the door after she stopped laughing. "You can go now, if you want. I know Rob kinda dumped all that on you. I can take care of myself."

          "It's alright. I'm kind of enjoying being able to talk to you without having to be caught and all. And anyway, Rob is right, it might be a trap…and two on something is better then one on something." He shrugged. "I can leave if you want me too…not sure if you're trying to nicely throw me out or not…."

          "No no, you can stay…just making sure if you really wanted too." Sam nodded. "Well, since Rob is gone, looks like it's just you and me for this movie then." She motioned to the screen. "Can you go put it in, please?"

          "What am I, your servant?"

          "No, you're protecting me from injury! I might get up and twist my ankle! Ow! I feel the pain already!"

          Raven rolled his eyes at her.

          "You're pathetic, you know that?" she smirked. "But whatever, I will help you not get a broken ankle." He got up and went to the TV. He picked up the movie and looked at it. "This movie has the adult rating…er…Sam, I would love to watch people having…relations…with you, but do you really think…."

          "Relations?" she laughed. He seemed a bit embarrassed. "It's not adult 'coz of that, you just have a sick mind! Read the back!"

          He blinked and did so, and found it to be adult because of the extreme violence in it. "Oh." He muttered, trying not to grow red. "I really shouldn't be surprised, should I?"

          "Nope."

          "Of course you two could get off watching people kill and maim."

          "Damn straight."

          "Sam?"

          "Yes?" She sat up and looked at him.

          "You're insane. I just thought I might inform you."

          "Thank you. That means a lot to me." She smiled sweetly. Raven sighed and put the tape into the machine. He walked back and sat down on the bed, rubbing his head which now pounded.

          "This is the best movie for blood and gore, I heard." Sam piped.

          "You are way too excited about that." Raven pointed out with a smirk. She just nodded smugly.

          She didn't know when, but she ended up falling asleep at some time, because all of a sudden the sun was shining on her. She groaned, touching her head gingerly to shade them from the brightness. She turned over and her arms fell upon a shirt. Instantly her mind told her: RVD left last night! No one should be there! She promptly screamed, which even more promptly scared the shit out of whoever was next to her, and that someone jumped up and literally fell off the side and got hit in the head with the side of the dresser. Sam stared still for a moment and then looked over the side to see Raven in a fetal position, holding his head in pain, a little blood leaking from it.

          "Oh my god, Raven!" she instantly realized what she had done, and felt bad just as quickly. She slid off the bed only to kneel next to him. He inched over to give her more room as he continued to cradle his injury.

          "That's one hell of a wake-up call, do you do that to Rob often?" he asked, sounding a bit annoyed.

          "I didn't know it was you…I was half asleep…you're bleeding, aren't you?"

          "No no." he shook his head, wincing as he did. "I…dyed my hair red. I'm fine."

          "You better not have dyed your hair in my bed." She rolled her eyes. She took his arm and made him take it off his head. The underside of his hand was coated in blood and a small wound leaked it. She moved a few strands of his braided hair to see it better. "It isn't so bad, nothing you'll have to worry too much about, but I feel obligated to stop it so I don't feel bad."

          "You don't have too…"

          "Shut up now or I'll make it bigger." She threatened. He rolled his eyes.

          "You wouldn't be too good with kids, would you? 'A cut on your leg? Hold still while I pour stinging medication on it or I'll chop it off'." He stated as Sam left to get something to help him.

          "Damn right. No child of mine is gonna be a wimp." She agreed as she came back with a first aid kit and a bowl of water. "And may I point out you're supposed the broody silent type, and yet you can find time to be a smart ass with me. Why is that, Raven?"

          "I guess you just bring out the social side in me." He smirked. She smacked a wet towel to his head with force. "OW!"

          "I'm sorry, my hand slipped since I was so shocked at the thought of you being social. Don't scare me like that!"

          "Oh you should talk. Without me you would have never calmed down." He pointed out. "What Rob didn't give you in teamwork-driven personality, I did."

          She was about to comment negatively, but realized he was absolutely right. "Yes, you're right. You did give me a few more friendly personality traits. Would you like me to start calling you Wise Senshi Bird Boy or somethin'?" she smirked. "Hold still before I chop your head off."

          "See!" he cried victoriously. "You are so predictable."

          "You know, it is way too early to have to deal with you." She huffed toward him. "And you have stupid hair. It keeps getting in my way."

          "I think I liked you better hating the world."

          "The same can be said to you, may I remind you…"

          "I still hate the world. Just not with you." And he stopped, realizing he just said that, and went quiet.

          Sam noted this and couldn't help but smile. Knowing he was suddenly uncomfortable for some reason, she did what she did best. "If you're telling me that's true, you really need to make new friends because I shouldn't be the sunshine of any person's day."

          "I can't help but agree with you." He nodded with another roll of his eyes. He broke away from her administrations and stood up, rubbing his head. "You might burn them to death."

          She had stood up too, stretching. "Wow, can't believe Rob isn't back yet." She commented idly, ignoring Raven now.

          "I'm sure he's in his room. It was probably a little too risky to come around. Don't worry; I'm sure he'll be here soon." He nodded.

          "Well we won't be. I'm hungry! And since you're here, I'm gonna drag to someplace to eat." She smirked.

          "You want to be seen in public with me? I'm not so sure that's wise, Sam, 'coz, you know, we're supposed to hate each other."

          "I see anyone and I'll pretend to kick your ass. Not that that's hard, mind you." She grinned.

          "Oh, thanks, make me look like the weak one…"

          "Uh, Raven, how many times have I beaten you?" She asked, giving him an innocent smile.

          "…Shut up, Sam." He muttered.

          "You should be proud. Not everyone can stand after I kick their asses. Remember Crash?" she laughed evilly.

          "He was knocked out cold for 15 hours, I remember." Raven rolled his eyes.

          "Thank you." She said proudly.

          Raven just sighed and rolled his eyes.

          And so the two went to a nice little eatery near the hotel and sat at the table that was the farthest from the door. Of course, with their luck, they were caught in five minutes.

          "Dude! Hey you! What are you doing bothering Sam!" a voice cried out. The two jumped.

          …And found it was only Edge. He walked over to them with purpose, looking at Raven with a hard glare.

          "Is this loser bothering you Sam?" he asked. Sam put her face in her hand and shook it slowly.

          "Edge…"

          "Because I can kick his ass if he is…"

          "Edge…"

          "You know, because I'm sure you're tired of doing it yourself…"

          "EDGE!"

          "WHAT?!" he asked, looking at her. Sam stood up and took the Canadian by the ear (even though he was at least 6 inches higher then her) and dragged him to the side.

          "Ow ow ow ow OW! SAM!" He pouted. When she let him go he rubbed his ear vigorously. "The hell was that for? I think you broke my ear!"

          "Edge, there's only cartilage in your ear." She replied in a deadpan tone.

          "…Oh." He paused. "Well, then you broke that!"

          "Edge, dear, hun, idiot…remember when I told you about Rob and I?" she smiled sweetly.

          "Ye…ew! Dude! You're fucking him too! Sam, one Alliance member is enough don't you…"

          "If you say one more word you're going to lose your ability to fuck, Blondie." She warned. He quieted. "One I didn't say that…and two, I'm not going out with him. Okay? We're just friends."

          "Oh." He replied.

          "So do we need to have the conversation again of what would happen if you happened to decide to well…blab about this little scene?" she continued to smile with fake sweetness. Edge whimpered.

          "No no, don't shave my hair. I won't tell." He conceded quickly. She smiled and patted his cheek.

          "That's a good boy. Now here, buy yourself some food. You need to get some skin on your bones." She tossed him a ten.

          "Whoa, cool! I love free money." He grinned. "Oh, by the way, I saw that Rob guy before. He looked all mad as he was carrying some girlie things that I've seen Stephanie wear. Looked pretty tired too. Poor guy." And he turned and walked off. Sam sighed at the thought of Stephanie bossing Rob around, possibly all night even. She walked to Raven and sat down.

          "Paid him off?" he asked as he sipped his coffee.

          "I threatened to cut off his hair." She said with a smirk.

          "Good one." Raven nodded.

          "He told me he saw Rob today, said it looked like he was still doing something for Steph." She sighed. Raven frowned at this.

          "Hope he can still make it to that wedding thing."


	6. Preparations

**Chapter 6 – Preparations**

**A/N: **-waves to VF- HI! XD …What? Can't I say hello? ^_~

          It was still hard to believe she was whipped.

          It had been so long since she felt the need to hate the world…

          But she did now.

          "I'm sorry Sam, but I can barely keep my eyes open, never mind go to a wedding. Plus, I think I pulled a muscle carrying all that stuff all night…"

          Stephanie truly did work Rob all night, and his voice showed how dazed he had to be, even though she was talking to him on the phone. "It's alright, Rob. I understand. You just get some sleep."

          "You sound mad."

          She sighed at this. "Not mad, sort of disappointed."

          "At me?"

          "No. At the situation." She responded quickly, dismissing the blame he was trying to put on himself. "It's not your fault she did that to you."

          There was a pause. "You're still going to go, right?"

          "I don't know…" she wrapped the cord around her finger, fidgeting a little.

          "Don't lose out because of me. I'm sure you'll have a great time." He yawned into the phone, but obviously tried to cover it.

          "Yes, because I so love being with my cousin for more then 15 minutes." She replied sarcastically. "At least with you he shuts up for more then a few seconds…he'll chew my ear off."

          "Get Chris or Raven to go with you, they scare him more then I do." He offered. "Chris puts him in his place and I think Raven speaks with so many words he doesn't know he thinks he's always out to get him."

          She couldn't help but chuckle at this. "I really need new friends, don't I?"

          "Naw, they compliment you. We psychos need to stick together, after all." Rob said, trying to sound cheerful.

          "Psychos is right." She rolled her eyes. "Sometimes it amazes me how even the people I hang out with bothers him. He's still insanely protective of me, I'm surprised he lets you touch me when he's around us."

          "He still doesn't like me, does he?"

          "He'll only like it when I date someone who is a clone of him." She replied with a shrug.

          "Another Angle? Now that's scary to ME. But hey, I can get a hair-cut and wear fake medals…"

          "Try it and you die."

          "It's true, it's true." He snickered.

          "Do it and you die, dragon boy." She reiterated.

          "Aw, Sam, I thought we were past the violence stage in our relationship…"

          "Remember who you're talking to…the only female hardcore wrestler." She reminded.

          "Queen of Hardcore." He mused, and she smiled at the memory of their first so called date, the thing that had started it all.

          "I'm going to let you sleep." She said finally.

          "Promise me you'll go?"

          "I promise." She murmured, though already not fully attending to.

          "I love you." He told her, and she felt herself smile.

          "I love you too." She replied, not because she had to, but because she meant it.

          After they hung up, Sam sighed and took out her dress she worked so hard to get the day before. She didn't feel like partying at all. She didn't really want to go without Rob. He was the one who pushed her to be social, and so she usually went to things for him. Now the incentive was gone, and she felt a little sad inside.

          She looked at the clock and saw it was probably too late to cancel. She forced herself to get ready. She would go; she just wouldn't have fun.  She pulled the dress on, flattening it against his form like she was a pro at dressing up. But from there, she had nothing. She didn't know how to do make-up, and fix her hair up…? Right. Like she, a hardcore wrestler, would need to know that skill. This left her with a problem.

          And, doing the only thing she knew, she went to get help from the only female she talked to.

          "You want me to help you?"

          The redhead laughed, a smile lighting up her face. Sam shifted uncomfortably in her dress and lack of shoes. "Are you just going to laugh or are you going to help me?" she asked gruffly.

          "I'm sorry, I just never thought I'd see the day, Sam. Come on in." she moved aside and she walked in almost timidly. Once she got fully in she found that Matt was also in the room. He instantly got up, looking a bit nervous.

          "I'm sorry for making fun of you that one time! Don't kill me!" he sounded truly panicked, and Sam gave a half grin. He noticed the dress and blinked. "…You're not here to kill me, are you?"

          "Depends, what did you say about me?" she asked with a fake glare.

          "That you were a great girl. Bye Lita." He slipped out quickly, Sam watching with an amused grin.

          "You just scared the shit out of my boyfriend without trying."

          "Yep."

          "Damn you're my hero." She laughed.

          Lita sat her down and got out her make-up kit plus a brush and a few hair products. She pulled up one of the chairs nearby and sat in front of her. "First I need permission to do whatever I want to make ya pretty. Deal?"

          Sam looked unsure. "I guess…"

          "Great. Sam, when I'm don with you, you won't even remotely look like a hardcore wrestler." She said cheerfully. Sam tried not to fidget.

          "Goody." She replied unenthusiastically.

          Lita started with her hair. She tried different styles, all promising to tear her very blue hair out of their very abused roots. She had no clue what she was doing, but she knew her hair was going to look foreign to her by the time she was done with it. That took her an hour alone, and looking to the side she saw her hair was curly now, and that made her shudder involuntarily. Already horribly girly.

          The make-up made her feel like someone put little weights on her face. She knew Lita was trying her best to keep it light, but it had to be seen. Mascara, lipstick, blush, and eyeliner were all put on and the finished product made her lock herself in Lita's bathroom. Literally.

          "You can't hide in my bathroom, Sam!" she called to her.

          "I cannot go out there looking like this."

          The person she was staring at was not Sam. She was looking at Samantha. Dolled up like an idiot, her hair perfectly curly, she felt the need to have a heart attack. She was so caught up staring at herself that she didn't hear Lita leave. After a couple minutes of silence, the door opened again and she heard it that time. 

          "Sam?"

          She brought Chris into it.

          She sighed, shaking her head.

          "Sam, come on, it can't be that bad."

          "Wanna bet?" she muttered loudly. 

          "I'll pay you a dollar if you come out…"

          "Chris, when bargaining with someone who has holed herself in a bathroom, you're suppose to tend to offer her something worthwhile…"

          "Fine, 20 bucks." He called back.

          "30."

          "Done."

          Sam sighed, slowly opening the door. Chris's mouth dropped and she looked away, trying not to blush.

          "I look awful, I know." She muttered.

          "No you DON'T." Chris said, his mouth still ajar in shock.

          Lita smacked him over the head. "She's got a boyfriend, remember!"

          "Ow!" he rubbed his head, seeming to snap out of it. "But…damn, Sam, you're just…Lita, you did great!"

          "Yeah, woo woo. Thanks. I'm going to go hide in my own bathroom now." She moved toward the door but Chris caught her arm.

          "No, seriously Sam. Wait until Rob sees you…"

          "He won't."

          Chris looked confused. "Huh?"

          "He's not going today. Stephanie worked him all night and he's too tired." She explained. "I'm going alone."

          "Oh." He let her go and she rubbed her arm. "I see."

          "I'll see you guys later."

          This time she didn't let them stop her and she walked out of the room, ready to just give up and hide in her room until the next day. Of course, a walk with no hassle to her room was not to be, as she found Raven waiting in front of her door. He leaned lazily against it, his braids falling over his face making it seem to not even be there. She walked up to him and leaned against the doorframe as well, her own now curly hair falling against her cheeks. They did not have to look at each other to know the emotions that each were feeling.

          "No date?" he asked.

          "No."

          Silence again.

          "Me either, don't feel bad."

          "Miss her?"

          He looked up toward her, his face showing a bit of surprise at her new look, but then it was gone again, like a fading dream. In reply to her question: "I don't know."

          She seemed to search his face. "I look bad, don't I?"

          She didn't know why she was fishing for a compliment from him.

          "You're Sam, you can be in anything and be beautiful."

          She smiled toward him.

          "How do you not have a girlfriend? What is wrong with these people?"

          "I think it's the dreads." He joked.

          She burst out laughing, probably a little too much for something not that funny. He gave her a strange look as she wiped a few stray tears from her face from the laughter. She noted his look at smiled with good-humor. "I'm sorry, I know I must seem like a nut."

          "If that bothered me, I wouldn't have talked to you. I mean, the fact you beat up a vending machine was enough to show that."

          She shook her head at the memory.

          "I never did have to pay for that."

          "You got lucky."

          "That seems like so long ago." She rubbed her head. "God you guys are bad influences on me. From that to wearing a dress. Blech." He looked him over. "Ha, but you got a suit and that's just funnier."

          "I was thinking about wearing a 'skirt' as you call them, but knew it wouldn't please the idiot."

          "That's exactly why you should have done it." She snickered. She opened the door to her room and motioned him in. He went in, looking as uncomfortable as she was dressed up.

          "You going barefoot?" he mused.

          "I wish." She rolled her eyes with a sigh. She grabbed a packet of panty hose that she stole from one of the female wrestlers a bit back and sat on the bed. "I haven't dressed up since god knows how long, you know. I shouldn't have to do this. This is why I am so having a nude marriage or something of that sort."

          "That's a pretty disturbing thought." He offered with a snicker.

          "I think I have the body." She grinned proudly. She looked at the panty hose in despair. "How the hell are you supposed to put this shit on?"

          "Um, put it on your legs?" he offered. "I dunno, not really into that stuff."

          "I really need better girl friends." She muttered.

          She struggled with it, but a few minutes later she had them up, though not without looking like an idiot in front of him. He tried not to look amused but did not do a good job of hiding it. She slipped on shoes, looking down at them.

          "I'm going to fall in these."

          "Yep."

          "I'll need to be carried home, the way it's already uncomfortable."

          "Probably."

          She paused.

          "Why the fuck do people wear these things?"

          "Makes you look taller?" Raven shrugged.

          "That's fucked up."

          "Sums it up." He nodded. "It's why I'm glad I'm a guy."

          "Yeah, you'd be a worse girl then I am." She snickered.

          "I'm going to take that as some weird, twisted compliment."

          "Good call." She stared at him with a smirk. "Well, aren't you going to ask me to be your date because my boyfriend needs an hour of sleep since he's a wimp?"

          "Would you like me to ask you?"

          "Hey, if we've got to look proper, we should act like it." She pointed out helpfully.

          "In that case, no. I don't wanna be proper. I'm rebelling."

          "What did I tell you about being a smart ass?"

          "Alright, alright." He rolled his eyes. "Let's go to this bullshit and get this over with."

          "That was beautiful." She snickered.

          Suddenly the door swung open, startling the two. Her cousin stood there, in his suit and tie, huffing loudly like he just ran a marathon. He glared at both she and Raven. "What the hell are you two doing standing around? You were supposed to be downstairs 10 minutes ago."

          Sam looked at the clock, then shrugged. "We'll go now, won't we Raven?"

          "And where's Rob? God, you people give me a headache…"

          "Not coming. We'll talk later, Kurtie." She smiled sweetly. Kurt just sighed and turned to walk out.

          "Just hurry up, Sam." He stated gruffly and left them. Sam took three steps and almost tripped over her own two feet. Raven caught her arm and helped her balance.

          "And it starts." She grumbled, latching her own arm to his in an attempt to steady herself better while walking.

          It already promised to be a long, long day.


	7. The Wedding

**Chapter 7 – The Wedding**

**A/N: **I know I know….I need to type faster…but here it is…^_^;****

          Poke.

          Pokepokepokepoke.

          She groaned, opening her eyes. At first she was disoriented, forgetting where she was, but then it came to her. The rows of pews, the drifting scent of lilacs…she was in the church, and she had already fallen asleep. She rubbed her eyes and yawned as quietly as she could before turning to Raven, who shook his head toward her. The priest was droning on, and she remembered why she really hated religion.

          It was SO boring.

          Raven had woken her up near the end, which she was appreciative of. It meant she didn't have to sit long through it. She turned her head to look around a bit, and found Kurt giving her a dirty look. She sighed and slouched a little, again wondering why she even bothered coming. It wasn't like her family even liked her. It was that whole 'I hate you all' speech she made to them, probably. She did hate them, most of them, even though she clearly remembered her mother telling her that family was all she had.

          It was the only thing she could even hear her mother saying.

          But the fact was, if it weren't for her cousin that was getting married, she probably would have not been invited at all. She was on good terms with this cousin, and was glad that she had found someone good to marry. But her family, hell, the whole rest of the family…looked down upon her.

          She figured it didn't help she had a date that wasn't exactly the most normal looking person…

          Her family would always be idiots. And they weren't good idiots, either…not like Kurt, who meant well but always fell short. No, they were just nasty, mean people who only liked people like themselves.

          So she was the black sheep of the family, even when Kurt, the guy she grew up with, was the most respected.

          That was probably one of the million reasons why she hated Kurt sometimes. Hated how good he was. Suddenly cheering sounded and she figured they were pronounced married. She wasn't in much of a celebrating mood after getting shot glares the entire thing. It was amazing how even on this happy day they still found time to make her life hell.

          Raven must have noticed her scowl as she slumped in her seat, because he patted her shoulder and, with much effort, she flashed him a smile in hopes of not looking like she was mad at him. She was just mad at the situation.

          The precession passed by as the two watched, and she spotted Chris in the adjacent pew. He flashed her a smile, and she smiled back, if only out of duty. Once she congratulated her cousin, she stepped to the side with Raven, making sure to be as anti-social as possible. Not that the people there made that difficult – no one even gave her a second glance. They just passed her up to say hello to the more accepted members of the family.

          "Stay close to me." She muttered to Raven.

          "Any closer and we'd probably look like we're making out."

          A pause.

          "Wanna make out? Platonically?"

          He looked at her sternly. "Sam!"

          "What?! It was worth a shot! You're just not…adventurous."

          "Why am I thinking your boyfriend holds the same mentality?"

          Sam pursed her lips. "Details."

          "Not saying hello, Sam?" Sam looked toward Chris, walking over with Lilian on his arm. She smiled at Sam who nodded back. Neither girl really ever spoke to one another.

          "Sorry, but apparently it's impolite to yell across when a wedding's going on. I learned something about religion, see?" she glanced at Raven who rolled his eyes. Earlier before they were talking about her religion…or her lack thereof, anyway. Not that he was into it…

          Later on in the day, after hours of pictures and traveling, the party began. Sam, Raven, Chris, and Lilian all sat at the same table. Because Kurt had it like that. It was the 'I wish you weren't here' table, Sam guessed.

          Sam couldn't help but think of Rob. There was something bugging her about the whole thing, and it wasn't on his part. It was Stephanie, she seemed…up to something. Not that that was anything new. In fact, she always seemed to be plotting against her. But never was Rob anything apart of it…

          Maybe she knew. It wouldn't be surprising, after all. They weren't always careful…but still, the thought was unsettling. It instantly made her wish Rob would just give up his loyalty and leave the company and that bitch forever.

          Laughter filled the table and jarred her into reality. She managed a smile, though did not know why she was supposed to laugh. She guessed it was just over one of Chris's long stories about the hilarity of his life.

          And then the two were gone, out on the dance floor, and she was left with just Raven again, who looked as if he was about to fall asleep in his very expensive soup. She nudged him and he glanced over at her with a sleepy smile.

          "Hopping party." He stated dully.

          "Oh yeah. Leave it to the Angle family to pick the worst old songs possible." Sam agreed, squinting her nose in disgust.

          "I still don't know how you grew up to be so…so…"

          "Not an Angle?" she offered.

          "Yeah. I mean, I look at your studious cousin over there and there is no family resemblance at all." Raven nodded, sitting back.

          "Well, if I remember right, my parents were kinda different too. Not so snobby, not so 'You better do good'-like in attitude. They died so long ago it's kinda hazy, though. All I really remember is the home videos my aunt has of us." She shrugged. "Plus when you're an orphan in a family that isn't yours you're prone to rebel. That might be it too." She looked toward him. "How about you, Raven? I don't think I've ever heard anything about your past."

          He exhaled slowly at that, staring steadily at his drink, not saying anything. Sam noticed he automatically seemed tense at the subject and decided to drop it. And, to break the tension: "Come on, let's dance."

          He looked up at her, looking a little surprised. He fidgeted a little. "I don't dance."

          "I bet you say that to all your dates." She grinned.

          "I don't think I've ever had a real dance date."

          Sam frowned at this, but was not swayed. "There's always a first time for everything."

          She extended her hand out to him and he stared at it. With a single sigh, he took it and stood, making a face as he did. "I can't dance." He pointed out more clearly.

          "Nothing to slow dancing, Rav. Move your feet back and forth and act like you know what you're doing." She took his other hand. "Okay, go."

          They really did start in a clumsy manner, but soon Raven sort of got the hang of it. Of course, the fact that Sam was –that close- to her was making him more nervous then anything else. He didn't understand how she could be so completely oblivious to his continuous crush on her…and how he can never act upon it, no matter how much he wanted to.

          It was enough to dampen his mood for the whole night, the mere thought of being that close to her and having no way of saying anything. She…she was probably the reason why Molly broke it off with him, not that he blamed her for that. She didn't know what she did to him.

          She smiled toward him at one moment and he reluctantly smiled back, willing her to understand his dilemma.

          He knew she wouldn't.

~~

          She said her goodbyes to Raven as she made her way upstairs, to her room. She was tired, dead tired, more because she was bored to tears at that wedding. If it weren't for Raven, she probably would have fallen asleep there.

          She fumbled with her key and slipped it in after much work. When she did, her eyes adjusted to the sudden flickers of pale yellow candlelight, in which she stared at in surprise.

          And he stood there.

          She smiled toward Rob, who was dressed in his suit, and walked toward him, closing the door behind

          "What's this?" she asked him as she approached.

          "My apology for needing sleep?" he offered, pulling a rose from his coat pocket. Sam felt herself blush as she took it.

          "You didn't need to…"

          "I wanted to." He cut her off. He looked her over. "You look beautiful, Sam."

          She rolled her eyes with a half-smile. "I hate it when you suck up this bad."

          "Is this a good bad or a bad bad?" he questioned curiously.

          "What do you think?"

          "Well, I'm still standing, so I guess it's good, no?" he guessed.

          "Good answer." She smirked.

          She sat on the bed, stretching. "Can I get out of my dress?"

          "Not until I get one of the dances I missed tonight."

          "More dancing?"

          "Yep."

          "Do I have to?"

          "Of course you do."

          "Damn." She pouted, then let him pull her up into the usual slow dancing position.

          "No music?"

          "I thought I'd serenade you with my beautiful voice." He grinned innocently.

          "I don't think that'll be the greatest idea. No one likes losing their hearing, Robert." She rolled her eyes.

          "Robert?" he laughed. "No one has called me that since 2nd grade."

          "Why, was that the last grade you completed?" she asked with a snicker.

          "Well, if you're calling me Robert…" he twirled her quite gentlemanly and when she faced him again he continued: "I'll call you Samantha." She cringed at the thought. "That's what I thought."

          "That's just evil, you blackmailing me with my own name." She grumbled.

          "I don't think so." He laughed. "It's a pretty name, though. Don't see why you bug out when people call you that."

          "Because that's what it is: a pretty name. Don't put fear into people with a name like Samantha. So that's why." She explained with a confirming nod. "What Hardcore wrestler has a name like Samantha?"

          "You." He nodded.

          She made a face again.

          "I'm going to change my name to Killer or something." She decided out loud to herself.

          "I don't think your cousin would like that." Rob pointed out.

          "Are you trying to make this idea more and more pleasing to me or what?"

          Rob only shook his head. "You're a strange girl, Sam."

          "And you're the one who liked me first. That says a LOT about you."

          "Very true." He agreed.

          "And you still like me, somehow." She added and he nodded.

          "You're too cute not to like." He snickered.

          "If you want to leave this room with everything in its right place…"

          "What, you ARE." He insisted with a nod. They had stopped dancing, much to Sam's relief. "In a ass kicking way, of course. That's what makes you special."

          "Have I mentioned today that you flatter too well?" she groaned. He smiled. "Making me a softie, I should kick your ass for…"

          He cut her off with a single kiss, and she made no attempt to stop him. He was always good at quieting her.

          "You realize if you weren't so romantic you would not get laid nearly as much, right?" she asked as he laughed out loud.

          "Sam!"

          "Well its true, you know."

          "You have no concept of keeping some things on your mind inside, do you?"

          "I'm very opinionated." She nodded brightly. "It's how I get my best fights."

          "Like Austin?"

          "Like Austin." She confirmed, then paused. "Wanna have fun?"

          He raised a brow. "What kind of fun?" And then, at the look she shot him, he gave an odd smile. "Oh…okay."


	8. Conversations and New Alliances

**Chapter 8 – Conversations and New Alliances**

**A/N: **New chapter. I know you all are happy. See, I didn't disappear for a month for once! ^_^

          "Is there any reason why I'm down here this early drinking coffee with you?"

          "Because most people drink coffee in the morning?"

          Chris studied Sam, who, unlike him, seemed to have been awake for a while. While she looked as neat as she usually was, he looked like a bum off the streets. He tried to pat his bed hair down as best he could be it really only made it worse.

          "You really need to stop waking up so early."

          "It's not my fault you're not used to my sleeping schedule." She smirked. Chris rolled his eyes and fought the need to fall asleep, even if it meant probably drowning in his cheap drink.

          "So what's so important I needed to lose my beauty sleep for?" he asked in between a long yawn.

          "Beauty sleep? You set yourself wide open for a comment, Chris." She grinned.

          "What do you expect? It's eight in the morning. I would be more aware if I didn't feel like falling asleep in this cheap ass café, obviously."

          "Excuses, excuses." She laughed.

          "Is it 'Kick Around Chris Day' and someone didn't tell me?" he pouted.

          "Did anyone ever tell you you look like a fish when you pout?" Sam inquired innocently.

          "Okay, I'm just going to go – "

          "No no." Sam dismissed. "All joking aside, Sleeping Beauty." He glared at her and she chuckled lowly. "Sorry, it was too good of a comment to miss."

          "Apology accepted, just because I'm too tired to think of a witty response."

          "Gotcha."

          "You still didn't beat me yet!"

          "Of course not, Chris."

          "Why do I get this feeling you're not being sincere?" he asked suspiciously.

          "Moving along…" she instantly changed the subject, ignoring the look she was shot. "I have a problem."

          "Wait wait, you're coming to ME for advice?"

          "Yeah, that's the general idea."

          "Me?"

          "Do you see anyone else here?"

          "Oh Sam, I'm going to remember this moment forever!" he grinned, his tone sarcastic. She groaned.

          "Shut up, Blondie. I mean it." She muttered.

          "Sorry, couldn't help it." He grinned. "You left yourself wide open!" She shot him a glare but decided to just ignore him. "So, advice. Shoot."

          "I think there's something up with Rob." She spit out quickly, looking down.

          "Yeah, that whore is what's up. I was talking to Raven, see, and he says she's been working that poor sucker to the core. Hasn't he told you that?"

          "Well, yes but…"

          "You think he's cheating on you?"

          "Will you shut the hell up and let me fucking talk?" she snapped, giving him the death look that always shut him up. "God, Chris. Your downfall always will be your big mouth."

          "…You used my catch phrase." He grinned.

          "Hey Chris, do you want me to kill you? Because I'm starting to think you do." She muttered.

          "Okay, okay, no more talking." He promised. "Continue."

          "Yes, in fact, I do think something is going on. And it's justified. I haven't talked to him in three days, and you know how he is with me."

          "And you are with him?" Chris smiled.

          "Shut up, Blondie. Anyway, so yeah, I think he's doing something. Or maybe I'm being paranoid. I'm not good at this fucking shit, Chris. I should have never agreed to –"

          "Agreed to what, go out with him? Do I need to point out the 180 mood swing from depressed sulking bitch to more happy bitch since he weaseled his way into your affection?"

"Well when you put it that way –"

          "The huge masses of friends you've made since you learned to be less anti-social?"

          "Well, that too…"

          "And, most of all, the fact that you're still able to kick ass without worry about being stronger or weaker or whatever then him?"

          "True…"

          "Sam, I might be an idiot sometimes, I'll admit to that…but I highly doubt that you should complain about all the changes he's gotten into you, because it's all in the right direction. And, as for him cheating on you…Rob? Highly doubtful."

          "How do you know that?" she smirked. "Enlighten me."

          "First off, Rob is like your puppy when it comes to loyalty. I mean, I don't even see him looking at other girls. I highly doubt he'd be chasing skirts. Even if he was, hypothetically, he isn't the type of guy to do it behind your back, he would break up with you. Or at least I'd think so."

          "But still, it's getting me kinda freaked out…"

          "Anyway, I know I wouldn't cheat on you if I were him. I don't think you'd leave me with anything to work with."

          The last comment was obviously to cheer her up, which it did a little. She managed a smile. "Damn straight."

          "That's the Sam I know." He mused. "That is my expert opinion, because I am so good at relationships!"

          "I am so tempted to comment on that with stories I've heard…"

          "What has Lita told you?" he asked instantly. Sam just smiled innocently.

          "Oh nothing. How'd you know she told me stuff?"

          "Because she's Lita, and she likes being evil to me for no reason…"

          "Now that's a bunch of bullshit. You play some stupid joke on her every week." She rolled her eyes. "Now if I weren't so 'blind', I'd say that maybe you like her. Since that seems to be the pattern with you and any kind of tight relationship of yours."

          "What pattern would that be?"

          "Piss the girl off every chance you get to gain even the least bit attention?"

          "I so don't do that." He muttered. She gave him a look. "And don't start with that Stephanie thing again…"

          "Hey, I didn't mention it…you did. Guilty conscience I see…"

          "I hate you. Extremely."

          "I know. That's the basis of our friendship; remember? Piss each other off? Aw, ya love me Chris. I never knew."

          He glared at her as she just smiled widely.

          "You know, I don't know why I put up with you, Wesley. I mean, I could hang out with all the normal girls in the world. But no, I choose to be known as the guy that hangs out with the Hardcore chick and Red."

          "You make it sound like it's a bad thing. It's not like I have a bad rep." Sam stated, ignoring his skeptical look. "Nope, not at all."

          "Do you realize you make grown men cower?"

          "Yes, I've seen some cowering action." She nodded.

          "Good. I just thought I might inform you if you hadn't noticed." He smirked.

          "Do I make you cower?"

          "If I say no are you going to make me do so?"

          "Probably."

          "Of course you do. You're a scary chick." He laughed nervously.

          She just nodded and laughed.

~~

          Another night, another match.

          Sam was unable to find her cousin, her best friends, or her boyfriend. It was shaping up to be a boring night in her wrestling life. Instead of sitting in her room with no company, she decided there to walk around a little before her match.

          Maybe find that tag team partner she needed for it. She only had been putting off her looking since she was challenged by some bozos from the Alliance that didn't seem so very smart at the time of the challenge. Her attitude was of course changed, and she was more in control of herself – but that didn't mean she didn't have fun at their expense for being idiots. She took a little out the people she was surrounded by to make her own unique style of insulting…she discreetly made fun of them with use of big words that neither of them knew. The two, of course, were the lovely tag team duo D-Von and Buh Buh.

          They never did like her. Something about being a girl and her need to be put through a table. It was no matter to her, of course. They would be in for a rude awakening if they thought she'd go into a table easily, if at all.

          On her walk, she happened upon hearing a sudden crash that made her jump a little. She kept forgetting about the 24/7 rule on her belt, that was proudly being carried at the time. But it wasn't coming from anywhere near her. Out of curiosity and a little boredom, she followed the sound and it got louder. Soon she heard voices that she recognized instantly, and that was even more of an incline to look into the situation.

          She saw the flash of blue first, and a sudden tossing of something into a trash can nearby, causing it to spill over with whatever thing hit it. It made a loud crash as it fell. Her mind registered on the broken looking body – Spike Dudley, the runt of the family the very people that she was fighting that night was apart of. And his assailants?

          "What seems to be the problem here, boys?" Sam called out to the brothers Dudley, discreetly picking up a nearby wooden rod of some kind and holding it behind her. The two whirled around, both glaring toward her. "I mean, it's not very polite littering."

          "What are you going to do about it, bitch?" Buh Buh spat, smirking toward her.

          "Why don't you come up to my face and ask that?" she smiled innocently. And, of course, he did.

          He staggered back when suddenly she smacked his side hard with the rod, and then smashed it over his head. D-Von went toward her and she sidestepped him. With all the momentum, he couldn't stop and hit the wall directly behind her. She got to the side the younger Dudley was on, and Buh Buh finally got to his feet and managed to stop D-Von for going after her again.

          "We'll get you for this later." D-Von swore, and with Buh Buh escaped the battle with the little scars they had.

          "Ugh…"

          The little guy. Right. She had almost forgot about him. Sam stooped down, plucking a stray piece of garbage from his hair. "Man, those guys are jackasses. Even I don't jump in pairs."

          Spike opened his eyes and seemed to shake the cobwebs out of his head that had formed. "Sam?"

          "Yep, you sound kinda surprised." She stood and offered him a hand, one of which he took and managed to stagger up, to at least get out of the pile of junk he was sitting in.

          He held his head. "What happened?"

          "Your brothers were trying to take out the trash with you in it?" Sam guessed. Spike's eyes narrowed, and she guessed he remembered what had just went down.

          "They jumped me from behind. I didn't even do anything to them." He groaned. "My glasses!"

          Sam looked around and spotted them amidst the garbage. She picked them up and held them toward him. They both saw the crack in one of the lens, and she couldn't help but feel sorry.

          "Well, at least you're not broken." She offered. He took the glasses, muttering under his breath, huffing a little as he did. He seemed to grow red, not from embarrassment but from anger.

          "One day they're going to get it, Sam…" he paused, thinking about what he just said. "Sam? Sam!" He jumped back, almost panicky. "I don't know anything! Please don't kill me!"

          Sam, amused by the reaction, rolled her eyes. "It's fine, calm down. Not in a killing spree mood today anyway."

          He seemed pensive, but a little less so now. "If you say so."

          "Before your little realization who you were talking to, what were you saying?"

          "About getting my brothers?" he asked.

          "Yeah."

          "They've always been jerks to me." His eyes narrowed a little at just the thought. "I'd love to kick them around!"

          Kick them around. The idea came to her in an instant.

          "Kick them around, eh? Let's walk, Dudley." She put an arm around his shoulder and he looked at her with an expression mixing from confusion to distrust.

          But he let her lead him into a slow walk.

          "You know, Spike, when I'm in a good mood, people like you get real lucky." His head shot up, and she could only guess what went through his mind at that point. "Not that kinda lucky, oi."

          "Oh." He laughed, a little nervously.

          "I have a proposition for you, Spikey." She continued as he played with his half-broken glasses.

          "What kind of one?" he asked, looking toward her with now just confusion, his face scrunched up a little.

          "One I know you'll like." She added, grinning toward him. "What a perfect way to get back at your brothers then to help me kick their ass tonight."

          "Me? With you?" 

          "Well, that's the general idea. Of course, if you don't want to help me, you don't have to. I won't force you. But I think it'd send them a message if you make the two scurry off with only the help of a girl."

          "But you've got the strength of like…3 guys." He pointed out.

          "Yes, but you see, they don't know that. Your brothers have been happily blind to the fact that I can kick their collective asses with one hand behind my back." She explained. "And when they do find out, I don't think they'll be bothering you if they know you're in with me."

          Spike seemed to brighten at the idea, and she knew she had definitely reeled the guy in for a tag team partner. "So, are we partners tonight Dudley?"

          Spike went quiet, looking again at his broken glasses. A second later, his face grew a slightly determined look. "Alright, I'll do it." He agreed.

          "Excellent. Knew you'd see it my way."

          Spike managed a half-smile. "Thanks, Sam."

          She looked a little surprised at the feeling he put into the thank you he just said, and she responded by just shrugging. "Not a problem."


	9. The Set-Up

**Chapter 9 – The Set-Up**

**A/N: **Heh! Don't kill me for how this story is going to play out. I ask you for your forgiveness now.****

          "The Dudleyz have riled her up."

          "Yes, they really did bring her out. It should be a good match, Miss McMahon."

          "Yes." Stephanie leaned forward, her brown eyes having a slightly demonic look to them, and smiled wickedly. "She's going to wish she never crossed the Alliance."

          "Yes she will, Miss McMahon."

          "Is she ready, Heyman?"

          "All posed to do it. And the lookouts are ready to."

          "Excellent. Rob won't know what hit him."

          "Not to contradict you, Miss McMahon…" Heyman seemed a bit nervous as instantly her glare fixed on him. "But won't Rob be a little angry at this intrusion? Might even quit on us."

          "I thought of that too, but how is he to know we set him up?" she smirked. "For what he knows, the slut couldn't keep her hands off him and he paid for it." She leaned back again. "You see, Heyman, it really is the perfect crime."

          "It really is." He agreed, of course sucking up to her.

          "That's why I'm the boss, you know. Once I exterminate this problem, I can go back to making sure I destroy my father, and I think I'm going to start with that little bitch there."

          She pointed at the screen which now showed Sam in the middle of the ring, posed to talk. Heyman watched, his face growing weary, as she thought of the consequences of their actions. Heyman knew the hardcore nature more then Stephanie ever would, and he knew that when you provoke someone with it so deeply in them, like Sam, they would not fall but strike back. He almost feared Sam would be their downfall.

          Stephanie looked toward him and he instantly flashed a smile. The impediment of calm and collected. She would never know, even if he tried to explain it to her. She was just too stubborn to hear reason when she was tricked or embarrassed.

          He already saw the scene of destruction a heartbroken Sam Wesley, and, when she wasn't looking, he cringed at the thought.

~~

          The crowd was a dull roar, and Sam stood in the middle of the ring, surveying the scene. So many bodies cheering for her. Unlike a lot of wrestlers that were face, it was as if no one hated her, at all. It was hard to tell why…perhaps it was because her hardcore nature was refreshing to see. She was one of the only girls guys could enjoy watching without the 'stripping' part all the other girls usually had. She waited for a little silence before beginning to speak.

          "You know, it's amazing." She mused out loud to the crowd, and then all seemed to quiet a little to listen to her. "It's amazing that two people like these Dudley brothers can go through life with so little brain. Or maybe they did have it but lost it playing 'put each other through a table', I don't know. Either way, their misfortune is that they didn't have enough smarts to stay away from me. You'd think the pile of bodies I've thrown around these past few months would be a warning sign not to mess with me, but apparently it hasn't gotten to the two yet. So when they offered a little 'table' match, I figured it'd be a perfect way to get through to them, don't you think?"

          A mixture of cheers and 'we want table' chants sounded, and she smiled at the response.

          "That's what I thought. So I agreed to it. Of course, since there's two of them, I needed a tag partner so as not to make them look even worse getting beaten by just one person. After much searching, I found someone who just might hate these two imbeciles more then me. So, as not to bore you with speech, I'd like to invite this person out."

          Silence filled the arena almost instantly and then Spike's music hit. He walked down the ring and cheers were abound for the youngest Dudley, sans his glasses that of course were unusable after the earlier scuffle. He looked toward her and she gave a single wink. Suddenly the other Dudleyz music started playing, and the Dudley brothers came waltzing down like they owned the place.

          Spike stood beside her as she watched them, a placid, determined look about her. And then, like that, it started. Buh-Buh threw the first punch, toward Sam, but she was ready for it with the quickness that she trained so hard to have. She caught the blow with the palm of her hand, and then twisted. Buh Buh let out a small wince of pain as the twist, because she did it hard enough to really hurt. He wrenched his hand free and managed a kick to her gut that made her stagger a little. He stared at her in surprise for a split second when that was all she did – she guessed he was waiting for her to fly backwards at the light touch.

          She glanced toward her partner who was holding his own, even managed to gain the upper hand it seemed. Seeing this reassured her and she went back to work with Buh Buh. He had acquired a trash can lid and was poised to smash it against her skull. She just barely ducked away, instinctively, and moved to slam herself into him to catch him off guard. When she contacted, Buh Buh did not fall, but was stunned a bit, enough to forget about the lid. It dropped to the canvas with little noise.

          This stunned moment was all she needed. She pulled out nun chucks – her favorite weapons, and smacked the Dudley brother with the butt of one of the handles. It connected to the back of his head and this time he fell forward. He held his head, the stinging blow probably coursing through his brain. Sam turned to see D-Von beating Spike, who was downed and lying prone on the ground. D-Von had a stop sign, and he was definitely looking to use it on his half-brother.  She acted quickly, running at him, and in an instant she drop kicked him, a bit awkwardly to say the least. It still did its job though, as he did not seem to have expected it. He stumbled forward, tripping over his own brother's body, and in his attempt to catch himself failed to remember he still had the stop sign. It was that slip of memory that he found himself smashing face first into his own weapon, squashing his face hard into the thin metal.

          Sam had no time to watch D-Von, because she felt the presence of someone behind her. She turned to see a trash can flying toward her. She tried to dodge it but it caught her in the side. She was in mid-jump at the time, and she completely lost her balance and crashed down, her body stinging from the hit. She winced as she tried desperately to stop the pain so she could continue. Buh Buh looked as though he was ready to throw some more blows her way, but something stopped him.

          Spike. Out of no where, the younger Dudley smashed a kendo stick into D-Von's temple, and the sudden hit obviously found it's mark. D-Von dropped his weapons and staggered. Spike did not stop and continued beating him with the stick. Sam sucked in a breath and ignored the pain ripping through her. She stood up and grabbed the nearest weapon, which happened to be the dented trash can lid from before. She only barely managed to parry an attack from Buh Buh, in which she turned around and smacked him with the well-used weapon. It connected into his stomach and he bended down to clutch it. It was instinct and he couldn't help doing it, and it was a definite opening for finishing him off. She smashed the lid into the back of his head and he fell. She thought of all the things she could do now that would inflict major pain. She figured out which would be the most unlikely of her to do.

          And she did that one.

          Buh Buh cried out in pain as suddenly his ankle was grabbed and twisted roughly. He tapped out, and kept tapping, even though the tap would not be counted. She saw Spike doing his Dudley dog out of the corner of her eye and knew they had the match won. Buh Buh was starting to stop moving, and she knew he was probably going to pass out. He couldn't get out of her grip, because she had made sure to brace herself that well. Spike covered D-Von.

          The three count was obviously made. Buh Buh stopped moving, it had been at least 3 minutes in the move. She let him go, and he fell limp to the ground, old cold. She might have broken it, she wasn't sure. She didn't have the control on the submission hold like her cousin did. Spike stood up, holding his head a bit, probably from a previous pain he had chosen to ignore. She was a little surprised at the younger Dudley's fighting skills; he impressed her.

          The duo finally got to the back. The first thing Sam did was stretch. Her head sort of pounded from the couple of blows that were laid on her but she decided to ignore it. "Did a good job, Dudley."

          He looked at her with one of his beaming smiles. "Yeah! I mean…you really did them in though. Destroyed 'em. It was awesome. Thanks so much, Sam."

          She started to walk and Spike fell in step with her. "No need to thank me." She dismissed. "It's always fun kicking people's asses. Don't you agree?"

          "Er…yeah?" he agreed uneasily.

          "Exactly." She laughed, hitting him on the back with her palm. It was a friendly gesture, but Spike almost tripped over himself at the force. He caught himself and smiled sheepishly.

          "Hey Sam, wait up!" someone called from behind. Spike quietly excused himself and left as she turned and watched Chris jog up.

          "What's the verdict?" she asked when he finally got to her.

          "Broken ankle for Buh Buh, plus some very major bruises. D-Von got off lighter, just a couple of scratches and a concussion. All and all, a pretty good night."

          "I agree." She nodded brightly. "Good job getting the information so fast. You're getting better."

          "Each beating you hand out gets you more and more talk on the gossip line. It's becoming too easy."

          "The more the news spreads the more people'll be afraid. Win win situation for me." She smirked. "Would love to have an opponent near my level though. Care to give it a try?"

          "No thanks. I like all my body parts where they are." He declined.

          "Wuss."

~~

          "Sam just destroyed the Dudley brothers, come see!"

          Rob rolled his eyes at the fact people still seemed to sound surprised. It was amazing how they all just forgot together that she did that to every opponent she faced, male and female, singles or tag teaming. Still, he put on a fake shocked look, and continued questioning Tommy Dreamer. "What happened to 'em?"

          "Buh Buh's ankle is completely snapped in two. She did the ankle lock on him and he passed out from the pain, even!"

          Rob tried not to grin. Vicious as always. He would have to tease her for using her cousin's move. "I see. Sounds pretty bad."

          "I tell you, Rob, you're lucky you walked away from those fights you've had with her. It's almost like she takes it easy on you!"

          He tried not to act guilty, and of course he managed to show no expression. "Maybe I'm just her match."

          Tommy looked skeptical, but nodded. "Could be. I'm going to go check on them. Bye."

          And like that, he was gone. He leaned against the table leisurely, sipping on the water in his hand.

          He hadn't seen her all night. At all. Over the last few weeks, in fact, he barely saw her. He tried not to think about it though, even though he knew it was annoying Sam. He wished things were different…

          But it wasn't. Sadly. He sighed and took another sip before noticing none other then Stacy slinking toward him. He tried not to make a face, even though he really hated the girl. She was always bothering him; it gave him a headache.

          "Hey Rob." She greeted with a smile. He managed on himself.

          "Hi Stacy, what's up?" he asked, not really caring.

          "Nothing much." She stepped closer. Rob just stared at her in confusion.

          "I heard Stephanie considers you her best wrestler…did you know that, Rob?" She asked. The look she was shooting him was making him feel more and more uncomfortable and tense. She noted this.

          "You're so tense, Rob." She was suddenly in back of him, rubbing his shoulders. He pulled away, quickly, turning to look at her.

          "Listen Stacy, you are REALLY crossing into my space here." Rob explained. "I don't want you to…"

          She put a finger to his lips. "Shh."

          "Stacy I mean it…" Rob blurt out, trying to back off again. She was insane.

          "Rob?"

          The voice of Sam caught him off guard, and it must have been an opening. Stacy pushed him into a kiss, one he was too shocked to fight back in.

          He heard a crash of glass and then fading footsteps.

          It was only then he pushed her away and turned to see Sam gone, and Chris seeming to be running in the same direction. He turned to glare at Stacy but she was already gone.


	10. Break Down

**Chapter 10 – Break Down**

**A/N**: I know you all hate me but ya know what…now my story has a conflict. XD Yeay!! Hehehe, so your pouts shall nae harm me…XD Anyhow, dude, chill out…issa just a story….don't need to send an unruly mob after me for making a little plot twist…okay, you can but I bruise easy. –ducks flying objects thrown at her- ^_^;;;

          Sam didn't actually know where she was stomping off to. It was kind of random, kind of blurred; all she knew was that her throat was tightening on her as she continued to choke back tears. So that was it – cheating on her? That was why he was never around? With HER? With that slut? The angry thoughts continued to fill her as she started to grow more and more angry. Anger – it made the tears go away. She wan't sad, she was angry.

          She remembered the feeling all too well.

          "Gonna cheat on me, huh?" she asked herself out loud as she continued to speed walk. "Gonna cheat on me, is he?!"

          After the fact sunk in she found her leg outstretched into a random soda machine. The glass shattered around her foot and she only lowered it and looked at it for a long time. And then she laughed. It wasn't a real laugh, but an eerie creepy sort of cackle, void of sanity. It was an evil laugh.

          She had completely snapped and she loved it. All the pain went away the moment she tapped into it again. In its place was a haze of need to break everything she saw, to keep any thoughts of what she just saw away.

          "Sam?"

          Her left eye twitch as she heaved large breaths. She twirled around and just stared blankly in front of her, not at Spike who was staring at her oddly.

          "Sam?"

          Another laugh. It even made Spike back away.

          "Are you okay?" he asked, timidly.

          "Am I okay?" she snorted. "Am I okay, you ask?"

          "Er…yeah…"

          And then she completely lost her control.

          She grabbed Spike and smashed him into the already broken soda machine. The loose glass pieces cut him up. She started to punch him, wildly, probably hurting him. She didn't care. Every punch was draining her anger…

          Then she picked him up and threw him into a trash can. He yelped in pain.

          "SAM! SAM! GET OFF HIM!" She was dragged off him, kicking and squirming like a wild animal.

          "Let me go!"

          Chris got her fist into his eye and an elbow in his stomach for his troubles. He let her go and fell backwards, clutching his face. He looked up, holding his face, and saw Sam retreating.

          "Spike." Chris struggled up, going to the aid of the younger Dudley. He was knocked out. People had came at the noise to see what happened. "Call for help." He told them, then left the crowd.

          "Have to find Raven, have to find…" he felt his head spinning and swallowed the need to puke. She had really gotten him.

          He only got to Raven's room before he fell in front of it. A minute later Raven looked out to find a panting Chris lying there. He was shocked at the sight, and picked him up as best as he could and got him into the locker room. He propped him up against the wall and saw the carnage that was his face.

          "Chris? Chris, you awake?" he shook him lightly.

          "Yeah…" he groaned. Raven got one of his ice packs and offered it to the dazed-looking guy. He took it and pressed it to his eye, wincing the entire time.

          "What the hell happened? You look like a train hit you."

          "Worse. Sam's fist decided to get friendly with my face." He muttered.

          "What? What are you talking about? Sam did this?" Raven asked. "Chris, explain yourself!"

          "Rob was having fun with Stacy and she snapped. Crazy, insane." Chris stated with another pained groan. "Almost broke Spike in two, probably broke a couple ribs in me. Fuck…"

          "You mean Rob was…"

          "Cheating? That was how it looked like. He has a fucking death wish." He shook his head slowly.

          "I can't believe…"

          "Me either, but I saw it with my own eyes. Raven, you're the only one that can control her. You gotta get her rage attack down. I don't even think she was in there the entire beating up process. She was like a wild animal!"

          "She's reverted back to her old ways." He looked down.

          "Guess so." Chris shrugged. "Even so, she's on a warpath."

          "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." Raven mused.

          "What the hell does that mean?"

          Raven rolled his eyes. "It means stay away from her if you want to keep all your body parts intact."

          "Don't need to tell me twice." Chris shuddered.

~~

          "Sam, please listen…"

          Click.

          She didn't let him talk. Wouldn't ever allow him to get a sentence in.

          She hadn't left her room besides the few times she snuck out to feed herself with enough food to ebb her hunger for a bit. Never anything good for her, nothing that gave her anything. Her room was always dark. She didn't speak, didn't do anything stimulating to her mind. She didn't want to. She just wanted to die.

          A million questions ran through her mind. Was she not good enough? Was this her fault? And most of all, why did she ever let him get close? She knew it was a mistake, she knew it…she had gotten too comfortable.

          Not anymore.

          Anger was her friend. Coldness was her friend. She didn't realize she missed the need to break things, to destroy things, until she got it back. It was powerful. It clouded her brain to the point where all she was doing was plotting the match she would have with Rob where she would force him to repent for scorning her. And he WOULD pay. She was already ready to break every bone in his body. She would make him feel the pain she refused to feel. And she would show no mercy, not on him, not on anyone.

          There had been knocks at her door. A couple of them. She never opened the door. She knew most of them was Rob, a lot of them was Chris, some of them were Kurt. She didn't want to talk. Talking was done. Friendship was done. She had tried that and look where it got her?

          Day 4 of no one saw her was when Raven finally came around. She heard the knock, heard his voice. She was the most compelled she ever was since the incident to open the door, but decided against it. Even Raven couldn't help her anymore.

          And then the door opened.

          Light flooded into her pitch black room and it took her eyes a bit to adjust. She said nothing, did not move. So he got a key. So he got into her room. It meant nothing.

          "Sam?"

          She did not answer. Suddenly the lights in the room went on, and she winced again at the even larger amount of lights hitting her eyes. She slowly looked toward Raven, who held her room key. How he got it she didn't care.

          "Get out."

          It was two words that she said with such venom that it even surprised herself.

          "No."

          She glared toward him.

          "Now."

          "You don't scare me like you scare everyone else." He warned. She was growing impatient, her short fuse already lit. He had closed the door behind him.

          "Just go away."

          "You can't sit in your room forever, Sam. I won't let you."

          "Bite me, Raven."

          The two glared at each other. "I'm not leaving."

          She stood up then, her temper flaring up instantly. "I mean it, Raven, get out!"

          "Not until you talk to me."

          She threw a punch. Raven instantly ducked out of the way and caught her hand.

          "Get out! JUST GET OUT!"

          "Don't make me hurt you."

          "You, hurt me? Ha! I'm fucking ten times more hardcore then you are you freak!"

          "It's the anger talking, Sam! You've lost control!"

          She ripped her hand from his grasp, looking extremely pissed. "You don't know shit, Raven!"

          "I don't know shit, huh?!" he cried. "I don't know the pain of being totally dumped for an idiot? I don't know sorrow?"

          She got a punch in, not listening. It connected with his shoulder, though it was aimed at his gut. He just barely managed to duck from that area so the punch didn't hit as hard. She tried again and he caught her arm this time. Then he punched her back.

          She staggered back, her face showing her astonishment. "You hit me!"

          "I just want to help, Sam."

          She was beyond listening as she went for him again. He grabbed her and she flailed, connecting with his body, scratching him. He barely noticed it, and this confused her even more. When did he get so strong? It got to the point her movement made him pin her to the ground, under him. Her arms could not lift under the weight of the power of his arms.

          "Listen to me!"

          "Fuck off, Raven!"

          "I'm not going to let you do this to yourself!" he glared down at her. "You can't let this destroy you. You're a fucking animal, Sam!"

          "I don't care anymore. I don't care! Let me go you son of a bitch!"

          It was a mistake on his part. She managed to lift her leg up and it squarely connected in a place that got him off her quickly. She got up and she smirked evilly. She looked as though she was going to kill him.

          "Go ahead, keep hitting me. If that'd make you feel better, fine." Raven said, gritting his teeth. Sam motioned the start of a kick to the gut but mid-swing she stopped, feeling a twinge of guilt. How could Raven evoke so much emotion in the stare he was giving her, even though it was mixed with so much physical pain? "Kick me! Go ahead!"

          She gulped back the lump in her throat, lowering her foot. It was as if the anger sort of drained at the thought of hurting Raven. Of all people, she could not forget all the times she had been her emotional support. He was always there, even at her lowest.

          And now he was with her when she went even lower. She fell back onto the bed, and just started bawling. The feelings she was repressing for the last few days were coming out at the single memory of how she used to be.

          Raven did nothing but sit next to her, not actually touching her though. She just needed comfort, needed something that wasn't solitude. She finally let herself lean against him. That was when he put an arm around her.

          "How could he? How could he?" she sobbed, feeling embarrassment and shame at her outburst already.

          Raven didn't say anything, he just let her ramble on. It worked, she felt the tears drying up as she got all her anger out through words. When she finally regained control of herself she wiped the tears from her cheeks and moved away from Raven, her emotional barriers already up. She sniffed and tried to get at least some of her dignity back.

          "Why can't you just leave?" she muttered unhappily.

          "Because I can't let you kill yourself over this. I don't know what happened exactly, Sam, but if he did cheat on you…he doesn't deserve you. It isn't the other way around. Never think that."

          She just sighed loudly, sadly.

          "I hate people." She muttered.

          "Welcome to my thought pattern." He smirked.

          "I'm going to kill everyone."

          "Not surprising."

          "Friendship is nothing now."

          "You shouldn't give up your new-found happiness for…"

          "Happiness leads to this, Raven. I don't care anymore. No more happy Sam. No more helpful Sam. And it started with that Dudley."

          "Well, in that case, he was a good example. He had to get a lot of stitches because of you." He shook his head. "He looks like he's been hit by nine cars."

          "Damn, I knew I shouldn't have let him off so easy…"

          "Sam…" Raven warned.

          "I don't care anymore. I knew if I cared about anyone else…look what happened. Fuck it."

          "Whatever you say, Sam. By the way, your eye is swelling."

          "You hit me that hard?" she touched her face and winced. "Bitch."

          "You deserved it." He smirked. She just rolled her eyes, then winced once again.

          "Whatever." She paused. "I think I'm going to go to sleep now."

          "You okay now?"

          "Not really." She sighed. "But whatever."

          "I'm always here."

          "I know."

          She looked at him and then looked down. "Stay with me until I go to sleep?"

          She didn't want to lose the contact she was having. She hadn't had it in what felt like ages. He was her only link to the human world now. She knew she couldn't trust anyone but him. Raven said nothing but nodded, and she knew he was probably reading her thoughts.


	11. The Goal

**Chapter 11 – The Goal**

          She woke up, and for a minute – just a moment – she thought it to be another normal, miserable day to look forward to. She tried to hide her face in her pillow, tried to will herself to sleep again, but then she remembered. Him. She turned over, her body still resting on the slightly sagging bed. He was there, just as she figured. He was propped against a chair, his head lulled to the side, his braids covering his face and hung even more beyond. She wished she could sleep so peacefully. She hadn't slept really since it happened – instead, her sleep was just one long nightmare of what happened, and images of Rob kissing even more then just that slut. It made her shudder involuntarily even thinking about it. She pushed the now well thrashed around covers from her and just sort of watched Raven for a lack of better things to do. She didn't want to wake him up – god knew how long he was up the night before.

          But, as if he sensed she was awake, he opened his eyes too, though she didn't notice him at first. It was only what he lifted his head she knew he was up, and when he pushed back his braids she instantly felt bad. His face had a pretty big bruise on it, purple and blue and swollen, yet he didn't seem to mind it as much. He sat up better, yawning, and stretched. She wanted to yell at herself for caring but…she knew that perhaps just one person wouldn't be so bad.

          "Raven?"

          "Mmm?" he asked, rubbing his face sleepily. "Ow! Shit…"

          "I tried to warn you…"

          He sighed, gingerly pressing a hand to the bruise. "Fuck…is it that bad?"

          "…Looks like you got punched in the eye?" She offered.

          "I take that as a bad thing." He shrugged. "Whatever…how are you feeling?"

          "Empty." She replied. "But you know, it's not that bad anymore. It grows on you."

          "Sam…"

          "Don't, Raven. This really isn't something you can fix with a sentence stringed with big words." She shook her head, sitting up. "I don't even know if I'd want you to fix it if you could."

          "Sam, maybe this is a misunderstanding…"

          "So you're on HIS SIDE?" she asked, suddenly angry.

          "No no, I'm not on any side, you misunderstand." He shook his head. "But think about it, this whole thing could be bogus…and he isn't acting like he got away with anything…"

          "I saw what I saw, I don't care." She muttered, angrily. "And if you don't like it…"

          "No no, whatever you like. I was just giving an opinion, you know? It's not up to me, it's up to you. You do what you're comfortable doing."

          "Fine then." She nodded, her tone flat. He knew it wasn't worth pushing.

          She winced as suddenly her stomach gurgled loudly. She held a hand to it, wishing to quiet it down. She didn't want him to know about how she hadn't been eating…but, well, it was too loud to hide.

          "You're empty in another way, huh?" Raven mused, automatically trying to lighten the subject. She shrugged, pulling her legs to her chest.

          "Maybe."

          "What have you eaten?"

          "Vending machine stuff."

          "That's it?"

          "Well, sorry, apparently you can't really go out too far when you holed yourself up in a room. Its kind of one of those unwritten hermit laws." She joked. He gave her a look. "What! Have you forgotten how to laugh since I went into hiding? Yeesh."

          "Ha ha, you're out to look like a starving child, ha." He smirked.

          "Well when you put it that way…"

          "Let's go get some food, then."

          "Wait wait, remember? Hermit unwritten laws? Can't leave the room?"

          "What, are you going to live in your hotel rooms?" he asked.

          "Not sounding bad to me here…"

          "You knew the minute I got in here I wouldn't let you hide out…"

          "I'm not hiding! I prefer to call it dodging any unnecessary blows to my already bruised fantasy world. That's the place where my boyfriend doesn't cheat on me with that bitch, by the way…"

          "Yes well unless you want to be skin and bones in your fantasy world…I suggest you get dressed and ready and I'll treat you. All the food you want. Really."

          "I'm not going to win this, am I?"

          "If you come quietly I'll even let you get an extra orange juice." He offered. She gave him a deadpan look.

          "Don't get cute with me, BirdBoy. Fine. I'll go. But if you get caught, it isn't my fault. And if I see that jerk…it'll be your head that gets smashed in."

          "What? Why me?"

          "Well, because you forced me to go outside, which is against ALL my morals now let me tell you…I mean, don't get me wrong, Rob will be destroyed next I see him, but if it's partially your fault I will get you for making the conflict arise."

          "I'm glad you don't feel any need to be vengeful toward him…"

          "Oh, I'm not vengeful. If I were vengeful, he wouldn't have use of his limbs because I ripped them off. THAT'S VENGEFUL. OKAY!?"

          "I understand!" he backed up a step. "Non-homicidal thoughts are key here."

          "You know, what the hell is with you? You're supposed to be depressed. And angry. And…vengeful! But no, you're nice and friendly and…NOT DEPRESSED!! DAMNIT RAVEN!!"

          "…You're mad at me for not being depressed?" he asked, sounding incredulous.

          "YES I AM! I mean, god…that pisses me off. Why aren't you like you're known to be?!"

          "People see what they want to see. There are a million names for people who understand most are all no deeper then their appearance. Freaks, dorks, jerks, bastards, weirdos…and me? Depressed and strange. Life is different for everyone, both physically and mentally. The same person can walk by two people and they both have separate opinions…separate ways of seeing things. So if you think I'm not depressed, you see me as that."

          She sighed, shaking her head. "No, no. I'm being an idiot. Don't worry about me. Food? Okay. I'll get ready."

          And she left, leaving Raven alone in the room to wonder about her losing battle with insanity. Not that it was new for her. Because it seemed she ALWAYS was battling with herself. Even more then him! He glanced around at the heaps of unwashed clothes, the countless tissues in the waste basket, and the many wrappers and papers of half eaten or fully eaten junk food and he had to wonder…did she even remember doing any of this? When he found her, she was in a strange, dull haze…it didn't even look like she was fully aware that she hadn't been out for days. And her threats – not unlike any broken woman would say – but this was not an ordinary woman he was dealing with.

          This woman would keep her promises that she was going to destroy the person that did her wrong. She would not stop until the person felt physically the pain that was bottled up inside. He felt partially responsible for her well-being, he always did…ever since he first put eyes on her, friend wise or more. He didn't know why, either. There was just something about her that managed to draw him to her…and he hated how much power she had over him, especially when she was happily oblivious…

          "This is not the time." Raven quietly chided himself. "Stop while you're ahead."

          "Why are you talking to my bed?"

          He turned, trying not to turn red at the fact he was caught talking to himself. He blinked, noting her hair wet. "You took a shower that fast?"

          "That fast…?" she looked toward the clock. "I was in there for an hour…and you say there's something wrong with me?"

          He looked at the clock, too. "I knew that…uh…I usually take 2 hour showers?"

          "Oh. I see. I'm pretty quick with them…give me a second…" she pulled her hair into a pony tail, then placed a backwards hat over it. "Wetter my head is, more chance I get sick. When I'm sick, you can't drag me out." she grumbled.

          He drove her out to a small diner he had noted before. He really wanted her to eat. He hadn't noticed it with the more baggy clothing she used to have on, but she really did look a bit thinner, a bit bonier. Perhaps after this food trip she would at least go out and feed herself properly…or even to get fresh air…

          She didn't talk too much. Just kind of slouched in the seat, trying to will herself away. "What do you want to eat?"

          "Food?"

          "What kind of food, I mean…"

          "Kind of food? Oh…" she sat up, picking up the menu along with her. She scanned the list, sighing loudly.

          "You know, if you want me out of your business, you should at least try to act like you're not brooding and planning your attack on the world." He pointed out.

          "I'll have pancakes and an orange juice!" she said in an overly high perky voice.

          "…Please don't do that again, I think that was the scariest thing I've ever heard." He joked. She glared at him.

          "Ha ha, funny." She smirked. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed the door opening.

          Stephanie.

          "Shit!" Sam hissed, and Raven looked toward her and visibly paled. With no other option, she ducked under the table, quietly thanking god that she had decided to sit by the window.

          Stephanie had noted Raven and walked over to him. He managed the fakest smile he could ever muster, and she obviously had invited herself at the table because she sat down. Sam moved over a little so as not to get touched by her legs. Raven eyed her for a second before clearing his throat.

          "Why hello Stephanie, what a…surprise to see you." He eyed her cautiously. "Did I do something wrong?"

          She gave out a strangely evil laugh, and Raven just blinked. "Of course not, Raven, I just happened to come along to this…" she glanced around, then cringed as she continued, "nice looking place and thought about getting a bite to eat."

          "Really?" he asked, sounding surprised.

          She smirked. "Well, not exactly. I was supposed to go to the fanciest place in town for breakfast but apparently they lost my reservation…bastards, they'll be fired by the end of the WEEK!"

          People looked over at them and Raven tried not to smirk. "I'm sure they will, if it's up to you…"

          Not picking up the insult, she nodded firmly. "Exactly."

          It took all the will in him not to roll his eyes.

          "So, you decided to talk to me. I see." He shrugged. "Okay." She seemed to make a face at the silence that followed.

          "Oh, look at the time…" she looked at her watch. "I have a meeting to get to. Goodbye."

          And then, like that, she was gone, leaving Raven to have a need to just mutter under his breath about the idiots of the world. After a minute or two, and the sight of Stephanie actually leaving in her car, Raven kicked Sam's side lightly.

          "Ow!"

          "You can come out now." He told her. She sighed and pulled herself out from under the cramped space, sitting herself next to Raven. She brushed her arm off.

          "Stupid bitch. I really hate her." She grumbled.

          "I'm starting to wonder about her lack of brains." He shook his head.

          "It must have fell out one of the times she was getting banged for business." She snickered. Raven shuddered.

          "Please, if you're going to mention anything that has her and sexually explicit acts in the same sentence…"

          "It's true." She shrugged. "Why was I dragged out here again? To like life again? Fuck that."

          "So you're just gonna sit in your room for the rest of your life?" he inquired.

          "No, not at all. In fact, I'll be out and about…even have matches…but I think I'm going to make a goal right here and now…"

          "That sounds promising but knowing you…"

          "I'm going to put every single person that I fight from now on into the hospital – until I fight Rob. With him, I'll have even more fun…much more fun…"

          Raven winced at the evil snicker that emitted from her mouth, and knew with the look she had…

          She had every intention of keeping her goal.


	12. Realizations

**Chapter 12 – Realizations**

**A/N: **Know it took long. Sorry. ^^****

          "She just completely knocked out three people in a row!"

          "And one of them was her teammate!"

          Sam smirked, flipping off the TV. Big deal, she went a little crazy. Again. In fact, she always seemed to have that sort of result when she wrestled. She had sent quite a few people to the hospital for night stays – from the WWF AND the Alliance – over the last month. And her popularity had gone from the highest it could be to the lowest it could be. She didn't care – and she wanted Rob. He had been managing to get out of matches against her from day one, and she never mentioned the fact that the minute he would face her, the minute she would stop destroying people left and right. She wanted –him- to figure it out.

          He had given up trying to talk to her. She would either hang up, or not open the door, or…

          Basically, it was a lost cause. She didn't ever want to hear his voice again, see him…and yet she wanted to hurt him, and she knew it would involve both things. When she was destroying people, she was either holed up in her room, or, even better – Raven's, which had become her safe haven since they had come to the agreement that she at least would respect him of all people. He would just let her sit in his room, hours at a time, sometimes let her even stay the night. Whatever she wanted.

          She had figured out his motive for his niceness – or at least she thought she did – and it was because he wanted her to have at least some sort of human contact so as not to go all the way insane. She was dangerously near that point some days, some days she was farther away from the edge. The particular day had her away from in, less angry then usual. Raven sat up, glancing at her from the parallel bed.

          "What did you shut it off for? My match is almost up."

          "Why? Weren't you there to see how it came out?" she inquired sarcastically.

          "Still, I'm not on TV enough to miss me." He pointed out. "Remember, not the main player here…"

          "Mm, you're right." She flipped on the TV and instantly glared toward it.

          "I think he's getting chubbier." Raven offered as she sat forward, her eyes not leaving the screen.

          "Look at him, all fucking smiles. Can't fucking face me, the fucking jackass….I'm going to fuck him up real good, just watch, first fucking chance I get…"

          "You know, you don't have to say fuck so much…"

          "Shut the fuck up, Raven." She spat. He silenced himself.

          She watched him until it was over, and she sat back sighing. Her hands were shaking, as if she had seen a ghost. Raven frowned toward her, getting up. He took the remote from her hand and flipped it off.

          "No no, it's fine, he's gone…watch your match."

          "I think we've had enough TV of that type tonight. How about we watch a non-violent comedy show about fellows from suburbia?"

          He tried to sound optimistic, and his failure at that just made her scowl turn into a humored grin.

          "The effort was noted, Raven."

          "Good. Because I do not want to watch one of those shows. Idiocy is at its peak on them."  He shuddered, sitting on her bed. "You okay? You're still shaking." She shook her head, falling back into her pillow. She turned to the side not facing him and stayed quiet.

          "Fighting isn't going to stop the pain, Sam."

          "Leave me alone." She muttered. "Go away."

          "…This is my hotel room!"

          "Oh, so you want me to leave now? Fine!" She rolled off the bed, collecting a few of her things. Raven pursed his lips, she was in that mood again. He caught her arm and spun her to face him.

          "Sam, listen to me…"

          "Let me go, Raven." She said coldly. "You want me to go, fine…no skin off my back…"

          "When did I say that? You're putting words in my mouth!"

          "You IMPLIED it!"

          "I just said this was my hotel room, how is that implying that I want you to leave?"

          "You had the squinty eye glare!"

          "…Sam, I'm not going to even comment on how insane you sound right now." He groaned.

          "It's true! Whenever you mean something else you have this look in your eye that just says everything that you're…why are you laughing?" Over the course of her explanation, he had started snickering, then full out laughing.

          "Do you even hear yourself?" he asked after calming down his laughter.

          "So now you're making fun of me…?!" She ripped her arm from his hand and went to walk out. Raven stopped her again.

          "Okay, if it makes you happy, I was kicking you out and you have every right to be angry and I was just laughing at you. Okay, there, all your….are you crying?"

          She turned away, her shoulders raising and falling as if she was trying to contain her quiet sobs. He felt bad at the outburst, knowing he should have realized how unstable she was after seeing Rob.

          "No I'm not."

          It wasn't too convincing, as she sounded like she was mid-sob speaking it. He sighed and put an arm on her shoulder.

          "Oh, Sam…I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you like that…" he apologized. She turned and looked at him with eyes that just broke his heart.

          "Look at me, big bad Sam, reduced to tears once again." She sighed, wavering. Raven offered a hug and she accepted it warily, crying into his shoulder – literally, since, as usually, he wasn't really wearing a shirt. He made no face at it but instead held her close, trying to will the pain away.

          "You let this pain rot inside you, Sam…it's not good for you."

          "I hate him so much…he acts so fucking happy…"

          "Sam, you need to move on. If you're not going to let him speak to you, it's not worth keeping all this anger inside forever. Let it go, you'll feel better…"

          "Move on, Raven? MOVE ON? How the hell am I to move on? If I lose him, I have nothing left…no one likes me, I made sure of that. I dug my own fucking grave, now no one can hurt me because I'm already DEAD."

          "I like you." Raven offered, though he meant it in a way he could never explain to her.

          "You don't like me, you pity me." She sniffed.

          "No…" he pulled her away so she could look at him. "I like you. I don't pity people, you know that's not my style." He led her to the bed she was sitting on before. "Why don't you go to sleep? I bet it'd make you feel better."

          She sighed, loudly. "I don't want to sleep."

          "Just a suggestion, you don't have to." He shrugged as she sat down, wearily.

          "Maybe just…a couple of hours. I am kind of tired…" she mumbled. "But not because you told me to, mind you…"

          "Of course not." He agreed. She pulled the covers out and nestled under them. She said nothing more.

          He sighed and shook his head. He didn't know how he managed to calm her down himself sometimes.

~~

          She got up early, around eight in the morning. In about five seconds, she had a realization that instantly excited her.

          She leaped out of bed, stretching, getting all the kinks of sleep out of her. She had to tell Raven, had to tell him right then. And it couldn't wait.

          She started with a few hard jabs in the side. He did nothing, didn't even respond. Basically asking for it, she opted for the other way…

          "RRRAAAAVVVEEENNN!" she screamed in his ear, and instantly he popped up, then recoiled from her voice. The recoil caused him to fall off the bed in a flurry of pillows and bed sheets. She smiled and hopped onto the bed, leaning down to stare at his half-asleep self.

          "Raven! You're up! Yay!" she grinned, and he just stared at her. "Raven, I had a breakthrough! Are you even listening!?"

          "…You broke something? Whu?" he asked, confused and still woozy from sleep.

          "Noooo, not broke something...breakthrough! I realized something just now!" She leapt off the bed, landing neatly on the poor guy, who looked as though he was going to have a heart attack or something like it. "And it's all thanks to you, Raven! Oh, I could kiss you!" she laughed. "In fact, I will!" And she did, pulling him into a joyful kiss in which he was so surprised he couldn't even respond. She broke it and hopped off him.

          "S…" he choked out.

          "No time to talk, Raven! I have things to do! Ha ha, things! I'll be back!"

          And then she was gone, and Raven did nothing to stop her. He sat up, rubbing his head, the shock wearing off momentarily. "….Good morning to you too." He mumbled to himself, trying to stop blushing furiously.

           She walked with a strangely foreign bounce, and most of the wrestlers who were up at the time that saw her just kind of stared and backed away. Why had she been so stupid? Why hadn't she realized it before? It was all there!

          She didn't need him! No! He needed HER. She had people to date, to care about. Raven, for example! Rob didn't have anybody close like he was to her. He was never seen with any girls, she knew this. And he had made her think she was the weak one…once she started going out again…not only was it the natural thing to do, moving on of course, but it'd also kill Rob to see her happy without him.

          On her walk to nowhere, she stumbled upon a small boutique, already open to serve, and knew what the first thing she was going to do. Walking in, she practically forced the lady to see her.

          "Dye in black with red highlights, lady. Mess it up and I strangle you." She suddenly smiled sweetly at the woman when she sort of flinched. "Thanks!" She hummed a tune as the lady went to work. "This is perfect, you know. All the bad gunk in me…the hair will remind me of how I felt yesterday. But not anymore, you know." The lady sort of nodded. "Nope, I came to the realization – why be in pain when the other person is living it up? Fuck that shit, right? RIGHT?"

          "Er…yes ma'am." She agreed half-heartedly.

          "I can get tons of guys, not that I want too – but just the knowledge calms me." She relaxed as the woman worked on her hair. "And this guy doesn't have anyone close to him like I do. Not anymore. That'll show him, being a dickhead and cheating on me. Shit, and I was upset about that." She seemed to think. "Hey, you know, I think I just realized something again. All this time I was being mean to everyone, which I will still continue undoubtably, I've yet to appreciate the fact that one individual has been patient with me. Not even my cousin did that."

          "That's…good?" the beautician offered, trying to make sense of her ramblings so as not to look like she didn't care.

          "Not good. I definitely need to start being nicer to at least him. No more outbursts and all that. I did kiss him today…I think…that was kinda blurry, because I was really just running on excitement and not really awake…and it was kind of nice. It's amazing how little I noticed him…"

          And she trailed off, saying nothing more, just sort of thinking to herself. She hadn't really had any deep thoughts since the incident, and now this one just popped into her mind once she opened it up. But she couldn't…could she? She didn't even know if he liked her anyway…no matter what he said, she still felt like a pity case to him. But then she kept thinking…she COULD get a couple of guys, even with her current state. All she had to do was lighten up a little. But why did she have to change for them when one could look at her when she was at her lowest?

          All through that morning, she had been smiling for a fake happiness that would probably fade again. But at that moment, a real one emerged as it hit her – why still have feelings for the one that threw her away when she could try getting the one that was always there?

          She left the beautician with her new hair color and a new way of thinking…and the drive to step in the right direction for once instead of fearing the road.


	13. A New Beginning

**Chapter 13 – A New Beginning**

**A/N:** Heh, here's the chappy. Enjoy.

          Today was the day.

          After the morning's little wake-up call, he decided that he was going to tell her today. He had waited over a month to get to this point. No, not even…since the day he laid eyes on her. He always kept a respectful distance, but he knew he couldn't just sit there and wish and want forever. He had to act on his feelings, be spontaneous, be…totally not himself; be vulnerable. It would put him in the position of either getting a girlfriend or most likely losing a friend – and it was a risk that he was starting to want to take. He had a chance – he had to keep telling himself that. It was the only way he could keep his nerve.

          She was in a good mood when she left; maybe she still was. It would probably help him get it out. Seeing her smile…it was a rare treat that now only he was able to see. Raven wondered to himself why Sam WAS in that good mood…what breakthrough did she speak of? And then a thought struck him – what if it was the realization that she wanted Rob still? What If he was too late…?

          The thought made him shudder, and then suddenly, as if she knew he was thinking of her, she burst in, the same smile of the morning on her face as before. And then he saw her hair.

          "…SAM! What the hell happened to your hair?!" he cried out, shocked. She smirked, tilting her head slightly.

          "Don't like it, Rav? It was kind of spontaneous. 'Least the girl didn't screw up my hair, huh? Perfect highlights and all." She nodded proudly.

          "It's nice…I just wasn't expecting it." He scratched the back of his head nervously. "Still in a good mood?"

          "You bet. It's been a real deep soul-searching kind of day." She explained. "I figured a few things out, you know? You'd be proud, Rav. Really." She nodded.

          "…Soul-searching, you say?" he furrowed a brow. He didn't like the sound of that.

          "Yes." She moved closer to him. "Lots of it. Wanna know what I figured out?"

          He eyed her. "Do I?"

          "You act like I'm going to tell you news like I'm going to get a sex-change operation or something. Don't be all suspicious!" she grumbled. He eyed her. "And no that isn't what I was going to say."

          "Hey, I didn't say anything." He offered, trying not to grin. He felt a little less nervous, seeing her in person. He didn't actually know why.

          "Anyway, so I decided – no more pining over Rob. It's what I was doing, you know. I am just hurting myself when I bother myself with that problem. Pretty cool, huh?" Raven instantly perked up. That meant he had an even better chance now…

          "Really? No more going around killing people in your path?"

          "Oh, no, I'll still be doing that, no doubt." She smirked. "I'm not going soft, just being less broody."

          "Oh." Raven rolled his eyes. "Well, I suppose it's a start."

          "I'm not done, here! Jesus, can't even get out a speech with you." She pouted with much fakeness.

          "I'm listening." He leaned against the bed frame. "Continue. Don't let me stop you."

          "I figured one more thing out." She explained slowly.

          "And what's that?" he inquired, watching her.

          She moved to him and just kissed him, and she didn't even notice how fast he froze. It was, of course, because at the moment of connection his heart probably would have leapt out of his throat if it was anatomically possible. He fumbled pushing her away, and she gave a half-grin as he stared at her in total, utter amazement.

          "What are you _doing_?" he asked, exasperated.

          "I'm frisking you, what do you think I'm doing?" she asked sarcastically.

          "Oh."

          "I'm kidding!" she groaned. "I figured actions speak louder then words, but apparently you're as clueless as Rob." She rolled her eyes. "I just kissed you. Ya know, when two people get really close –"

          "I know what a kiss is." He snapped, breathless. "But you're kissing me. And it wasn't one of those friendly nice kisses, it was one of those…"

          "Yes. 'One of those' fits the description nicely." She agreed. "See, I was thinking about it. You have always been there for me. And I never noticed it. I mean, I noticed it, obviously – since I was present, but I didn't consciously notice it because I was too busy with the 'woe is me' crap. But I realized something today – you're awesome. You're the best person that I've ever had the pleasure to meet. Even during everything, you're the only one who can take it when I go insane. And it makes me think – I really love this guy, that's what I said to myself. I mean, it's cool if you don't look at me that way, totally cool. You can kick me out right now. But I figured you'd at least need to know that even though you don't believe it, someone out there really cares like that about you."

          He stared at her, speechless.

          "In fact, no need for words. I'll leave now before you go off on me for doing that." She suddenly realized what she had done that moment, and felt embarrassed for putting him in that position. "Sorry, Raven. I didn't mean…"

          "Do you mean it, or am I going to be the rebound for Rob?" he asked as she turned to get her stuff. She looked at him again. "Because if that's your plan, if I'm some kind of scheme, as mean as that sounds, I wouldn't be able to take that. It would kill me."

          "There's only a couple of people I could do that too." She said simply, and it was his answer. "And even though all this Rob crap, I still learned that it's wrong to fuck with certain emotions for power gain. Not even if they screw you over in the end."

          "Oh. Okay." He nodded, understanding. "In that case, if you wish to continue kissing me, I give you full permission to have your way."

          She felt her smile broaden. "Don't even need a signed consent form? Lucky me." She moved to him and gave him a light kiss. "Y'know, because paperwork is a pain in the ass sometimes."

          "There is something wrong with you." He smirked, still a little flabbergasted at the events.

          "I get that a lot." She agreed.

          "And this is crazy." Raven pulled away a little. "This isn't going to work. I mean, god, I've always wanted this – you wouldn't believe how long I've wanted this – but us? Together? Insane. I mean, I don't want to be the one to burst the bubble but…"

          "We could keep it low key." She pointed out idly. "If you think people might be weird about it…"

          "Like your cousin?"

          She had an amused look instantly. "Since when do you feel the need to be in with the family members?"

          "Have you been ignoring everything your cousin has down to repel me? I mean, sure, they were incredibly flimsy and obvious, but it was all still there. How would he react when he finds out that we've been secretly dating, never mind the fact we've been dating at all…"

          "What is he gonna do? You're a hardcore wrestler, you can poke him over with your pinky. Show some backbone, boy!"

          "While I'm sure that has truth to it, I'm talking more about the acceptance factor. You know, because one Alliance member was enough, but two? Not a good track record here, and I highly doubt your cousin would be thrilled that his little cousin is yet again dating someone on the wrong side."

          "Yes, because I really care what Captain Milk Boy thinks. You may have not noticed, but up until he found out me and Rob and going out…he hated Rob! And I still think he does, but he fears my wraith. Now all I need to do is beat that fear into him again, and bam! Acceptance ahoy. You're thinking a little into this, considering we haven't even had one date…"

          "I hate to tell you Sam, but it's basically like you live with me. I think it's a little late for a first date."

          "Details! Aren't you going to ask me out now? Hmmmm? Or do I have to do THAT too?" she tapped her foot testily.

          "Give me a second to breathe, please." He groaned, exasperated. "At least Rob had a couple weeks to plan things. You just threw yourself on me."

          "No time like the present. Procrastination is the first sin, I think. I wouldn't know, haven't been to church in like…forever. Not counting the happy wedding, because I had to. Or I didn't get free cake. Bastards."

          She had turned from him, and at the last second she faced him again to see him smirking at her.

          "Yes, Sam, the church is conspiring against it's disbelievers by posting the 'no cake' law." He rolled his eyes.

          "Exactly." She paused. "BUT DAMN! What the hell are we getting off topic for? Ask me out! Even it's to Burger King! I want a crown…preferably one from a kid so I can tear it in front of 'em. That's entertaining, you know. Ha."

          "…Sam, you worry me. Often. In fact, I think if I had a child, I would run for the hills in your presence. Because you emanate evil."

          "If YOU had a kid, it would be sulking in a corner." She shot back with an innocent grin.

          "And if YOU had one, it would have a couple of psychological disorders." He stated.

          "…I know. Which is why I constitute a baby-free zone here. And no place is more innocent then a fast food restaurant." She grinned.

          "That's hardly romantic."

          "Romantic is for saps like the old one. Do I look like the romantic type? Do I?"

          "Well actually…"

          "Did I mention I can kill you in many ways?"

          "No, not at all." He answered quickly.

          "Okay, we can go to McDonalds then?"

          "McDonalds? For a first date? What the hell is wrong with you?"

          He gave her a deadpan look.

          "…What? I said fast food, not rat food."

          "Are you making this intentionally hard on me?" he pouted.

          "Yeah, because it's funny when you get mad. Usually you're all calm and collected, like that Chinese guy on the Karate Kid!"

          "The who?" he blinked.

          "Ya know, the wise guru guy. Yeah. Or Yoda."

          "Okay, I am not green, or only 3 feet tall. What's with the movie references?"

          "I'm allowed to do them once and a while…and only movie characters seem to make a good description of you."

          "A little green guy that talks backwards reminds you of me?" he asked, blinking.

          "Why not?" she shrugged, smiling innocently. "Mm, whatever. Anyway, it's all good." She turned from him, smiling deviously. Under her breath, she continued to herself: "This'll show Rob. I can go on without that jackass."

          "…Are you talking to me? I can't hear you." Raven asked. She turned around; the look instantly vanished.

          "Nothing at all, just talking to my voices." She explained, gaining her another odd look. "I'm gonna go now. See ya later!"

          She walked past him, humming a tune to herself.

          "Hey wait! What about the…" the door closed behind her. "…date?" He sighed and shook his head. "Nevermind, I suppose."

          She was thirsty. She had realized that when she went into the elevator. Really thirsty. So when she got to the lobby, she walked to the vending machine. Spike was there, and he skirted over, already cowering and horrified he was close enough to her that she could reach over and bash his face in. She smiled at him and waved, and he just stared dumbly.

          She fumbled through her pockets. "Mm, no money." She said outloud. She turned to him. "Got any cash, Dudley?"

          "N-No Sam! I'm so sorry! Don't kill me!" he whimpered.

          "No problem." She shook her head. She backed away from the machine, and suddenly kicked the glass hard. It shattered around her foot and at that point Spike ran for his life. She watched him go and shrugged, turning her attention back to the machine. She grabbed a drink and walked away, as if nothing at all happened.

          She bumped right into Chris.

          The two stared at each other, not speaking. Sam hadn't talked to him since the day Rob…

          "Did you smash in the machine?" he finally spoke, looking over her shoulder.

          "Yep. Want a Snapple?"

          "Hey! What's going on?"  One of the workers at the hotel came over and looked at the mess. "Who did this?!"

          "That would be me. Hi." She smiled sweetly. "See, the glass was in my way. You shouldn't put glass in front of stuff, it makes a mess."

          "What are you, insane!?"

          "Insane is such a harsh word…"

          "I'm sorry, this is my mentally challenged sister. She didn't do this." Chris explained quickly. Sam glared at him.

          "What the f…" he elbowed her and she rolled her eyes. "I like your nose…" She pointed at the man's nose and giggled insanely.

          "She's got a rare disease. Chronic…lying and all that. The person who did it ran off that way." He pointed in the other direction.

          "Oh, I'm sorry. That way? Thank you." The man ran off in that direction, and Chris sighed in relief.

          Sam shoved him.

          "Mentally challenged? Couldn't you think of a better excuse?!" she huffed.

          "You know, one day you're going to get yourself into trouble and I'm not gonna be there to bail you out."

          "Trouble? No way." She smirked. "I wasn't even in trouble now."

          "You would have had to pay for the machine." He shook his head. "You don't change, do you?"

          "I change! I have black hair now." She pointed out sarcastically.

          "You aim to be a constant headache, don't you?" he sighed. She just smiled.

          "Missed ya too, Chris."

          He rolled his eyes. She smiled to herself, because she realized that perhaps today was the day everything would go back to normal.


	14. Destroy the Nuisance

**Chapter 14 – Destroy the Nuisance**

**A/N: **-wave- Hi. Hope you like the story so far. ^^;

          "She put Dreamer in the hospital?"

          "Concussion. Broken arm." Heyman explained to his irate boss.

          "Can't we get her arrested somehow?" Stephanie asked, exasperated.

          "Hardcore rules. She lives by the fact that she's allowed to make mistakes. She attacks with such force though…ever since…"

          "Ever since we got Rob out of her picture, right? Is that what you're saying, Heyman? Are you trying to put this setback's blame on me? Because if you are…"

          "I was just pointing out, Miss McMahon." He quickly interjected. "It probably has nothing to do with it."

          "She's just a crazy bitch." Stephanie explained.

          "And she's a complete danger to the Alliance."

          Stephanie looked up to see Shane entering, a scowl on his face.

          "What's wrong now?"

          "She is single-handedly breaking every member of this Alliance in half. Your stupid idea breaking her up from Rob has backfired completely. She's even WORSE now."

          "Why does everyone KEEP BLAMING ME?! IT'S NOT MY FAULT!" Stephanie whined.

          "Yes it is, sis. It was YOUR idea to break them up. Now look at us. She has no weakness to use against her AND half our group is terrified of her."

          "Girl's got spunk, you got to admit." Heyman offered. The siblings glared at him, and he quieted.

          "We need to concentrate on her. Once we take her out, we have more of a chance." Shane suggested.

          "Sounds like a plan. Let's go ask one of the wrestlers she's put in the hospital…oh, that's right! She put almost every single wrestler in the hospital! How silly of me to forget." Stephanie huffed.

          "But all of them were fighting single matches with her. We could set up a trap, see. Hardcore match, and have a bunch of people jump her. All my guys, even. I'm sure they can take her down for a good while." Shane pointed out. "She'll never see it coming."

          "What do you think, Paul?" Stephanie asked, turning to him.

          "I'm sure she'd expect it, but Shane does have a point. After this, there aren't many options of getting rid of her." Paul explained. "It's worth a shot, either way."

          "Alright then. It's settled, Steph?"

          "Yeah, let's go for it." She mumbled.

          "Good. Heyman, line up the ECW boys, they really know how to hit. Everyone." Shane told Heyman.

          "Yes sir." He quickly exited, leaving the siblings alone together.

          "And what about me?" Stephanie asked, pouting.

          "Just…stay out of the way, alright?" Shane groaned as Stephanie just glared at him again.

~~

          "You know, I think cartoons have subliminal messages." Sam commented as she stopped on one of the cartoons on TV at the time. Raven walked out of the bathroom, clad in only a shabby hotel towel, to see exactly what she was talking about now.

          If he knew anything, she would end up explaining her theory anyway.

          "See, I bet if you watched this backwards, it would say that all children should kill the higher powers. Maybe that's where I went wrong." She pondered.

          "I bet." He scoffed. She eyed him.

          "Nice towel, trying out for Tarzan?"

          "I figured that I either come out here by my own consent or get dragged out, with probably nothing on. I chose the first for obvious reasons."

          "You're no fun, Rav." She pouted.

          "I'm getting dressed." He rolled his eyes. She hopped off the bed and caught his arm, almost causing him to lose his grip.

          "Sam!"

          "Aw, but you look cute." She interjected. He groaned.

          "It's like negative 20 degrees in here, and I haven't dried off. I'm freezing."

          "You know, I have an idea to warm you up…" she offered.

          "But isn't your cousin…"

          Knock.

          "Damn. Bad timing." She grumbled, walking to the door. She opened it before Raven could zip into the bathroom, and unfortunately the keen eyesight of her cousin worked too well.

          "Oh my god, is he naked?" he gasped in much horror.

          "Hi Kurt." Raven managed before attempting to slip into the bathroom.

          "No, Kurt, he had a towel on. Duh." She smirked. "If you really wanna know, you can ask him if he had anything under that. I know that's what –I- wanted to do."

          "WHAT?!"

          "We just had hot sex, chill out." she grinned, leaning against the door frame.

          "SAM! Are you serious?!" he gasped, making a face.

          "No, not at all, but it sure is fun to think about doing. You should try to pop a cherry one day, it might get the stick out of your ass." She paused, then laughed to herself. "Wow, that comment's funny both ways you take it!"

          Kurt glared at her.

          "You know, and to think I actually slightly missed you when you became a hermit. All these hours with that…thing must have made you worse. You know, you can ALWAYS stay with me…"

          "Kurt, fuck off. What the hell is your problem with Raven anyway?"

          "He's dirty." He explained simply.

          "He just took a shower…or maybe…" she suddenly fake gasped. "Maybe he faked the shower! Maybe in truth he's the grimy, even though he looks perfectly well groomed. It's some sort of magic."

          "You read my mind!" Kurt beamed.

          "Kurt, if it wasn't illegal, I would have killed you a long time ago. Remember that."

          "Anyway, that wasn't what I meant. He might get you into some kind of cult…"

          "Oh, yes, he got me in that already. Meeting's every Friday. We burn animals and DUMBASSES WHO TALK TOO MUCH! …Wanna come, Kurt? You'd fit in fine."

          "You know Sam, you're gonna get in trouble one day, standing up for him. You know how everyone…"

          "Kurt, do you realize how much people hate YOU?"

          The two cousins glared toward each other again.

          "No one…"

          "It's DAMN true, Kurt." She cut him off. He let out a huff.

          "I'm leaving." Kurt turned away, not unnerved by her glare but annoyed at her words. She watched him scurry off, closing the door behind him. She clenched her fist and let out a low annoyed groan. She turned to the window and looked out at the scenery, trying to cool off.

          "You didn't have to do that. Not yet. I know you wanted to talk to him…"

          "No, I didn't want to talk to him." She answered Raven, not turning to look at him. "I wanted things going back to normal, and fighting with Kurt is definitely normal."

          "Still…"

          She turned to face him. "Let someone do something nice for you sometimes, okay? Without the 20 questions of why afterwards."

          "Thank you." He said after a pause.

          "Listen, Raven, when what's going on between us…when that comes out…don't try to impress Kurt. His opinion goes as far as what he sees. That's why he's such a jackass." She frowned. "And I'm not changing my mind because he doesn't like it. If I did, I would have never become a hardcore wrestler."

          "And you wouldn't be so rebellious, which is your entire charm." He half-smirked.

          "I'm not rebellious because of him."

          Raven sat on the nearby bed. "Well, the way you two act sometimes, it's like the opposite of what most people do. Most people try to impress their family, you try to make them detest you. It's what fuels you. Not that that's bad, because it really isn't. Whatever floats your boat." He grinned. "And anyway, he looks really funny when he wants to kill you."

          "Yeah, he does…" she agreed, then shook her head. "I mean, no he doesn't! I'm rebellious 'coz I want to be."

          "Uh, by definition…'rebelling' means to go against something."

          "Then I'm rebelling against the system, then." She explained.

          "Against the system…right…"

          "Raven?"

          The door was knocked on.

          "Shit." Raven muttered. It sounded like Tommy, and that meant trouble.

          "I'm going, I'm going." She said in a low voice, grabbing her stuff and walking calmly to the bathroom.

          Another knock. "Raven, you in there?"

          "Yeah yeah, I'm getting dressed, wait up." Raven called. The door shut and he heard the lock, so he walked over to the door and opened it.

          "Took you long enough." Tommy sighed, pushing past him inside. Raven watched him enter.

          "By all means, enter." He muttered, rolling his eyes as he closed the door.

          "Man, this place is a mess." Tommy continued, looking around. "Eh, whatever. I have stuff to tell you…"

          "I kind of figured that."

          "But first I need to use the bathroom."

          Raven stopped him before he moved toward it.

          "Ah, can't let you do that. See…uh…bathroom's broken."

          "It's BROKEN?" Tommy asked, eyebrow raised in question.

          "Yeah. Broken. Gotta go downstairs to uh…yeah." He groaned inwardly, mentally berating himself already for such a stupid excuse.

          "Maybe you should ask to get that fixed..." Tommy continued.

          "No no, it's fine. I'm not here long enough to worry." Raven quickly said. "Just get to the point, Tommy."

          "Whatever. Um…point…oh yeah! Stephanie asked me to tell all the hardcore wrestlers that we're jumping that insane chick next match she has. And since you were the last one with the belt…a month ago…you're gonna be the one to take her down." He nodded. "Don't worry though, by the time we're through with her, she'll be easy prey."

          Raven tried not to look totally dismayed at this new concept.

          "I have to what?"

          "Beat psycho chick into a coma. You've done worse, you know. You act like it's the hardest thing in the world."

          Sam had heard the plan through the door, and was already ready to run out and beat the shit out of Tommy. But she held her breath and stood. Unfortunately, she hadn't noticed her stuff had knocked over the soap that was used only a couple of minutes ago and ended up slipping on it.

          Outside the bathroom, Tommy looked startled when he heard loud crashing noises in the bathroom.

          "What the hell?!" he turned and looked at the room. Raven quickly pushed him to the door, opened it, and then pushed him out. "What are you doing? What was that noise?"

          "Probably the mice. I think my room is infested too. Good luck finding everyone."

          He slammed the door in his face.

          Tommy stared at the closed door, confused. "Man, he isn't THAT bad of a wrestler. No one deserves that room…whatever…"

          Deciding to drop the subject, he walked away.

          Raven knocked on the door quickly. "Sam? Hey Sam, you alright?"

          "Ow." She mumbled loudly, and the door opened to the sight of her looking dazed, with her clothing scattered on the bathroom floor and a bra on head. She realized it was there too late to hide it, so she just wearily pulled it off and threw it aside.

          "What the hell happened?" he asked, exasperated.

          "Well, I tripped on soap, fell, tried to stop the fall with my bag of stuff, the stuff went flying and…damn, I think I broke my ass." She rubbed the sore spot, wincing.

          "Did you…"

          "Hear the new plan? Hear that your job is to beat me unconscious? Yeah, I heard a little of it." Sam replied irritably.

          "Sam, I'm not going to…"

          "And if you don't, you're probably going to either get fired or your reputation will be ruined." She sighed. "And what the hell am I gonna do? I don't want to beat you up, if I even can stand up by that time. I'll also rightly say I have a chance of getting my ass kicked. I can take 2 or three, but not the entire ECW…you know that's what it's gonna be…"

          "Sam, either way, I'm not going to beat you up. I couldn't." Raven shook his head. "I can't, actually."

          "Well what are we going to do? This isn't a great situation to be in…" Sam moved out of the bathroom, not feeling like cleaning out the mess. "This fucking sucks…"

          "Wait wait wait, I got an idea." His face took on a brighter look. "Listen, you have friends, right…well, have them help you! Chris and Kurt and the Hardy brothers and Lita…Spike too, and that idiot Edge since he knows that we talk…they can destroy the other ones and look like they destroyed me…and it'll be okay, too, 'coz it can be like someone overheard Tommy talking."

          "So Tommy would take the heat…"

          "Exactly." He grinned. "He's annoying anyway."

          "Man, Raven…you have an evil, twisted mind like me…you just don't like showing it."

          "Sorry, it's always hidden beneath my usual cheery disposition, right?" he rolled his eyes. "And if this doesn't work, I still won't hurt you like that…I'd rather get fired."

          "It'll work." She shook her head. "It has too."

          Sam silently cursed the world for her continuing bad fortune…


	15. Always There

**Chapter 15 – Always There**

**A/N: **A slight warning…do not read this chapter if you're not prepared for excessive sappiness. ^^;

          "So I need your help, see…"

          "Can you say that again? I need to remember this forever." Edge smiled one of his usual cheery grins.

          She grabbed his shirt. "Help me or say no. Unless you want me to rearrange your face."

          "Alright, alright, chill out." He wiggled out of her grasp. "Yeesh, no fun at all. I'll help, sure."

          "Lovely." Her face instantly turned sweet. "Meet me at Chris's room...Chris Jericho? 10 minutes."

          He bidded her goodbye and she suddenly wondered if she should have asked Chris about it first.

          "Oh well." She said outloud, walking toward the room herself. She had called them all, they were all coming, and she had a better chance of getting through the thing without getting destroyed or destroying Raven.

          She went to Chris's room, or at least the room the manager told her to go to after she threatened to kill him with the phone cord…

          It was the right room, because Chris came out half asleep, his hair a mess and his clothes crinkled.

          "Take a nappy?" she snickered.

          "Do you have a tracking device on me or something? God!"

          "Well, you are one of the most dangerous animals in the world." She smirked.

          "Crikey." He added jokingly.

          "I'm having a meeting here, so excuse me."  She went to push past him but he stopped her.

          "What do you think you're doing?"

          "I'm having a meeting." She repeated. "You're in it too, don't worry."

          "Oh how nice of you, you're not going to kick me out of my own room…"

          "I know, isn't it?"

          "What's this meeting about? And how many people are going to be in here?"

          "Man, this room is trashed." She commented, ignoring the questioning.

          "Sam…"

          "Don't be so pushy, I'll tell you when everyone's here." She sat on his bed, not bothering to move any of the stuff out of her way.

          And they all came, even Kurt, who she was figuring wouldn't after she completely told him off earlier. Not that he didn't deserve it, mind you. Like a general speaking to her troops, she paced back and forth in front of them, looking very serious.

          "Alright, as most of you know, I need your help with something. And this happens to be a big help, since this has to do with all your jobs." She stopped and faced them. "You all know how I've basically broke through the front lines, right?"

          They all nodded.

          "Well, apparently, now they want to take me out. I've heard through various sources that Stephy has her entire federation ready to jump me at will. At the same time. And even I know I'd get bruised up, and thus means the Alliance would have a huge victory. And no one wants that, obviously."

          "So we're going to be your backup, then." Jeff spoke up.

          "Basically." She nodded. "But I need you to take it easy on Raven."

          "You still friends with him?" Lita asked. She nodded.

          "He's the one who told me." She explained. "So, is everyone in? They're planning on doing it at tomorrow's show."

          "Why not?" Edge shrugged.

          The others agreed as well. She looked at them with an extremely serious look.

          "And by the way, if Rob's there…he's mine." She smirked. "So mine."

          No one had any objections, knowing of her…history, with him.

~~

          As the meeting went on, another one commenced.

          "Rob!" Raven looked surprised when he opened the door to see him standing outside his door. He gave a half-smile, looking a bit nervous for obvious reasons.

          "Hello Raven." He managed.

          "What are you doing here?" he demanded, glaring toward him.

          "Woah woah, easy man." He shook his head. "I'm not looking for trouble."

          "Well, you're coming to the room you probably know Sam is in, I think that's trouble if you ask me." He huffed.

          "Is she…?"

          "Here? No." he smirked. "Better thank your lucky stars. She'd pummel you into a pulp if she was."

          "Listen, Raven, I didn't chea…"

          "Save it for someone who cares." Raven snapped. He didn't realize how mad he was at just the sight of him, but it sure was coming out that way.

          "Listen, I just wanted to come over here to find out what you're going to be doing about this jumping issue." He sighed. "That's it."

          "What's there to be said? She's already rallying the troops and if you're seen she's going to most definitely go after you."

          "So she'll be alright?"

          "Yeah, no thanks to you. Are we done here?"

          "Yeah, we're done here." He said after a pause, backing off.

          "Get out of here before she comes back." He slammed the door in his face after that, leaving Rob scowling but not at all surprised.

          Raven, though wishing he didn't, knew somewhere in his head that Rob really didn't do what was seen. It just wasn't like him, and with him risking his ass to check on her…?

          But there was no way he was going to admit it. She was over him now…and he finally had her.

          So what did it matter?

          "Everything." He muttered, answering his own head.

          But the realization that it was just a thought – no proof that there was a folly in looking in on that kiss he was caught. And unless he found out somehow that that kiss was staged, or SOMETHING – he wouldn't say a word. Maybe he was succumbing to his own selfish wants, but he figured that without real proof she would probably yell at him or even ask if it was a way out of their relationship…

          Had he really sunk so low as to be jealous of the ex boyfriend? He shook his head, resolving to just forgetting about it all. He was being stupid – she loved him, after all. She did. He just knew it.

          He jumped as if he was caught doing something wrong when the door opened and Sam slid in. She gave him an odd look, walking in. She started looking around, almost suspiciously.

          "What are you up to?" she asked.

          "Nothing. Just thinking." He shifted a bit.

          "You got to get out of that habit one day. I did that for the last god knows how many weeks, and I was a zombie. Because I was thinking into everything. Jumping to conclusions about everything before it happens. It's kind of like Romeo and Juliet, you know? He thinks she's dead, doesn't wait even a couple of minutes to weep…and what happens?"

          "They both die." Raven answered.

          "Exactly." She nodded. "And you can change the ending to the story."

          He stared at her, then shook his head with a smile.

          "Of all the lessons I've given you, you remember that one? God, you are a hopeless romantic."

          "Can't say I never listened to you." She pointed out. "You know, Raven, I guess since I'm out of my depressive destructive mood, I'm expected to…" she cringed, looking down. "Apologize? For all the crap I put you through. I don't know how you keep putting up with me…"

          He seemed a bit shy at moving to her, kissing her very softly on the lips. She rested her head against his once it broke.

          "Never for a second think I ever was regretful for meeting you." He said with a serious tone. She pulled away, giving him an odd look.

          "That was…abrupt." She raised a brow. "You're not dying, are you?"

          "No, no, nothing like that." He shook his head. "Just…thought you should know."

          She stared at him a couple more seconds, then smiled and shook her head.

          "I don't know why I didn't start with you first." She said with a grin.

          "Don't sell Rob so short. I mean, I know he did…that…to you, but he helped you find a couple of endearing qualities that you continued to pretend wasn't there. Stuff I couldn't bring out of you, since I have my current anti-social status…"

          "Hmm, maybe." She shrugged. "I just don't like thinking about him anymore…and if I see him with that jumping thing, I'm going to kill him. I know it."

          Raven knew he had a decision to make then – to tell her or not. Realizing that he'd just be an ass if he didn't, he took a breath. "Listen, I know this is probably going to mean nothing to you, but I'm going to feel like a jackass if I don't tell you. Sam, Rob came around today."

          "He WHAT?" She asked, sounding instantly angry.

          "Listen, before you get all homicidal, let me get this out. He came over with a serious look on his face, and he asked what you were going to do about the jumping thing, and even if you knew about it."

          "And you told him?"

          "Sam, I've known RVD for a very very long time. And I know he's not a butt kisser." He shook his head. "He wouldn't go running to Steph with the info or to suck up to you. He was just generally concerned about your safety."

          "Are you actually standing up for him?" she asked, astonished.

          "No, I'm not. I just thought you should know. I'm not going to stop you from doing whatever the hell you're going to do to him. I'm just telling you what happened."

          He left it at that. Nothing of his suspicions that perhaps Rob WAS set up that night, nothing of his concerns that her anger was directed at the wrong person. He didn't want her to even think about it. 

          That didn't mean, of course, that he didn't feel bad. Because god, he felt like he was a lowlife for thinking that any information like that would change what he had. What kind of relationship was that? He breathed in deeply, sitting down on the bed and let his head hang – his braids instantly tumbled down against his cheeks. He couldn't help but act a little erratic; all of a sudden he wasn't feeling so great. 

          "Raven?" Sam seemed surprised at the sudden development of him not even speaking. They were mid-fight, damn it! He wasn't allowed to just quit.

          "Listen, I'm not going to argue with you about this – about him. I was just stating what I felt and what I know. If you feel beating him bloody is your way to get revenge, then power to you. But don't yell at me for stating my opinion. I'm just telling you this for your own sanity, not mine."

          She was taken aback by the look he shot her. It was a weird hurt look that was kind of foreign to her, and she didn't know how that fight made him look at her that way.

          Then she felt it – guilt. It felt a little strange having the sense of it again. The only other person that had a look like that was…

          "I'm sorry." She stated, looking a bit like a scolded child – like she was indignant at the fact she had just been officially told off, but truly did understand she had crossed the line.

          He stared at her, surprised.

          "You are?"

          "Uh…yeah?"

          "You just apologized."

          "Damn, you don't have to rub it in. Jesus."

          "No, no." he jumped up, startling Sam. "You just apologized."

          "…And you say I have mood swings?" she eyed him curiously.

          "You don't understand. I just made you apologize. You don't apologize to anyone!"

          "Raven, I think we established that fact." She stated, deadpan.

          He knew she didn't understand the significance of the moment – he didn't really know fully why either. It was just the fact that anyone else talking back like that would have gotten his balls kicked, or their head smashed in…

          He hugged her. It was probably the most innocent movement he had ever made – he didn't even hug his parents when he was younger…when he saw them, of course. She was dually surprised at his movements, almost feeling like this one hug was ten times more intimate then any kiss she ever got from him.

          He pulled away from her after a while, looking partially embarrassed. He was about as good as she was when it came to showing emotions. "Listen, Sam…never ever think I'm not on your side. I've always been on your side…because you've always been on mine. No one has ever been on my side; do you understand that? Ever."

          "Raven…"

          "Ha, I'm sorry." He looked away.

          She had never noticed just how many times he showed his utter devotion to her, even though she had just been a horrible bitch to him half the time, taking all her frustration out on him. She swallowed slowly, letting it all sink in. He was actually vulnerable at the moment, letting out all these things that she never even thought about. She hadn't taken into consideration that she might actually really truly fall for him in the deep way she loved Rob. She had promised herself she'd never get herself into this position again but…

          "God, I do love you." She said to him but more to herself.

          "Sam, you don't have to…"

          She pulled him into a kiss, cutting him off. It wasn't their usual one, no; this one was entirely different.

          This one was real.


	16. Admittings

**Chapter 16 – Admittings**

**A/N: **Howdy. XD –wave- How goes it? More sappyness in this chapter. Trust me, after these few, it gets back to pretty much normal. XD

          "You think they're together?"

          "I know." 

          "Really?"

          Her nose scrunched up.

          "Mm-hmm.

          "She has a thing for those Alliance members."

          "Not really. Only the decent ones."

          "Decent ones?"

          "The ones I can even trust." Chris raised a brow toward his redheaded friend, taking a sip of the Pepsi in his hand.

          Lita seemed to contemplate this.

          "Raven, especially. The two are…" Chris trailed off.

          "…The same? Yeah. I noticed." Lita agreed.

          "Anti-social."

          "Black sheeps."

          "Dark."

          "Broody…"

          The two looked at each other and shook their heads simultaneously.

          "Kurt'll be mad, I think." She mused. "He hates Raven."

          "Kurt hates anyone who isn't him. He wants her to date a carbon copy of him."

          "Raven's the polar opposite…"

          "Exactly." Chris nodded. "Just like Sam. Kurt, I think, wants to change her into his personality."

          "But that would be…disturbing." Lita made a face.

          "I know. Could you imagine Sam running around brown nosing the boss?"

          "Not at all." She shuddered.

          "So yeah, Kurt will be mad about them. But the way he is…"

          "Thick as a brick." Lita instantly understood. "I don't think he'll figure it out, saves someone tells him."

          "I think only you know how close he is to her besides me, and Rob of course. Kurt knows, but he doesn't know."

          "I wouldn't have known either if you hadn't pointed it out." She paused. "Why did you…"

          "Tell you? I felt like talking about it, and you're the only person I trust out of the 'troop'."

          "I'm honored." She smirked.

          "Ha." Chris stretched. "As you should. Anyway, they're gonna end up keeping it entirely quiet. If I know Raven, he wouldn't want to create an even bigger riff between Sam and Kurt."

          "So you're sure they're going out?"

          "Well, not entirely, but come on…she basically is always in his room, even if she might get caught. I would even make a move on you if I was always holed up like that."

          "Aw, Chris, do you have unrequited feelings toward me?" she snickered, batting her eyelashes at him.

          "Don't flatter yourself, Red." He smirked. "You're cute, but it'd feel like kissing my sister."

          She nodded in agreement. They both went silent for a moment. Finally, Lita spoke up.

          "That would be so cute if they were together like you think."

          "You are such a hopeless romantic, Lee." He laughed. "But yeah, you're right. Maybe that's why she seems so…not homicidal."

          "Maybe." Lita agreed.

~~

          She had found herself snuggled deep into the crook of his neck.

          She was groggy at first, confused, but then she remembered. She remembered and she felt warm again.

          It had happened. It was so completely random, so sudden…but not at all random, because it wasn't empty. There was meaning in every movement she had made with him, everything…

          She moved away a little, and found him still asleep. He looked so innocent, almost to a child-like extent. His usual broody exterior was relaxed, and he was just opened for any attack on his mindset. She could break his heart with a flick of a finger, and he knew that. He knew she had that capability. But he still trusted her…

          She realized she had done the same thing. She had let herself be open for assault and unfortunately it was a disaster. But not this time. She was the one calling the shots with this relationship, and to hell she was going to hurt Raven like that. No one deserved that. Even if for some reason she felt the need to break it off, which was very unlikely, she would break it up and not sneak behind his back. She had too much respect for him to do that.

          She leaned in close again, curling herself against his sleeping form, snaking an arm around his midsection in attempts to hold him close to her. He didn't move really, but his head lulled a bit to the side to rest upon hers. Suddenly she felt his hand fall upon hers, and she looked at him the exact moment he opened his eyes. They stared at each other.

          Finally, the silence between them grew uncomfortable, and she spoke the first thing that came to her mind – "Hey."

          "Hello." He replied. They stared at each other again, and Raven just burst out laughing out of no where.

          Sam stared at him oddly. "What's so funny?"

          "This has to be the worst after sex conversation in the history of man." He explained. He shook his head and smiled, lacking his hand with her. He took a breath. "Sorry, I'll stop."

          "It's alright." She shrugged. "I couldn't really think of anything to say before. Well, anything that wasn't a typical sex comment. 'Was it good for you, baby?'. Ick."

          "I'm pretty sure guys are supposed to be the ones saying that anyway." He smirked.

          "Yes, and I definitely follow the gender rules."

          "You got me there." He conceded.

          She yawned lightly, letting her head fall back onto the pillow. "That was nice, though."

          He smiled at her. "Yeah." He peered at the clock next to him. "We ought to get up."

          "Why?"

          "In case they come. I think it'll be a little suspicious that you're in my bed practically nude."

          "Why? The girl wrestlers do that all the time…on camera, no less!"

          "Yeah, but don't forget the fact that I'm in the Alliance and you're in the WWF. That sort of thing really isn't smiled upon. You should remember that just from your other experience."

          "Hmmph, details." She pouted. She sat up, turning so that her legs could dangle off the bed. She grabbed a very thrown pair of shorts and pulled them on. She stood up, looking for her shirt.

          "Are you sitting on my shirt?" she asked, turning to him. He was pulling on his usual old beaten up jeans. "Or do you know where you threw it in your heat of passion?"

          "Ahem, you should talk." He gestured toward his own shirt, which was on the TV a couple feet away.

          "Hey, I ripped it too." She said as she grabbed it for him. She admired it before tossing it over.

          "This is my favorite shirt." He realized. She shrugged.

          "You shouldn't wear good clothing when you have a chance of getting some. And anyway, the rip matches the grunge look you always have going on."

          "Thank you, fashion expert." He pulled on the shirt and stood, stretching.

          "Anytime." She nodded. "Ah, here we go."

          She grabbed her shirt, which was on the floor near the TV, and made haste to grab it. She pulled it on and went back to the bed, sitting next to him.

          "You know, I'm thinking we should have done that a long time ago." Sam pointed out. "Definitely. But I'm glad I didn't come on to you until I really figured what we were out."

          "And what are we?" he asked, raising a brow toward her.

          "For a lack of a better word, kindred spirits? And here I thought only lesbian lovers called each other that." She shook her head. "Whatever. Anyway, all joking aside, I'm a horrible person."

          He looked at her, surprised. "What?"

          "Because I know we've been kissing for a bit and all, and I think I was just completely using you. But today I realized that all I've been was this huge bitch to you and all you've been was this kind, caring, compassionate guy who has what seems to be infinite patience with me. For some reason, I remembered something I had told you a while back."

          He seemed interested. "What was that?"

          "I remembered when the wedding was going on, and Rob couldn't go. I was feeling all completely uncomfortable with the dressing up thing; I felt like an idiot. I was embarrassed; I'll admit it. And I told you how I knew I looked awful in it, and you told me that I looked beautiful in anything…" she trailed off. "And I remembered thinking, 'Wow, how is it possible that people think this guy is anything but sweet?', because I knew so certainly at that moment that you meant it."

          "I remember that." He scratched his head, looking embarrassed. "But why did you remember that time?"

          "Because I realized that the comment I said after that…I realized that I was completely right. I don't know how you managed not to have a girlfriend. And then I thought of Molly, and how you guys broke up so soon…"

          Raven stood up, starting to pace a little.

          "…And?"

          "Raven, just how long have you liked me?" she asked, standing too. He didn't answer. "Raven?"

          "Since I met you." He replied finally. "Molly was always jealous because I hung out with you a lot. I didn't blame her, I tried not to act like there wasn't anything there but…" He sighed. "Didn't work. She told me that she couldn't contend, and broke it off. It wasn't cold like I always made it out to be."

          "I see." Sam said quietly.

          "But why does that matter?" he asked, turning to her.

          "Because…you know, Rob left me for someone because I wasn't good enough for him. But you…you've never left my side, even when you had everything you wanted. And I know how much you used to love Molly, because I heard all the stories. But you picked this long time crush over me. You said before that I've always been on your side, but honestly…it's the other way around. I threw fits; you calmed me down. I got myself in trouble, you helped me get out of it. You're the only one who was there when I was at my lowest point, where people were afraid to even talk to me." She faltered, blushing a bit, but managed to continue. "You even got me and Rob together when you knew you had a chance to woo me over."

          "Listen Sam, you don't have to…"

          "I want to. I want you to know this. And I figured once this is out I don't have to go through another sappy dumb ass speech about my feelings, since you know I love those." She rolled her eyes. "But yeah, anyway, that's why. That's what I realized, and that's why I figured this all out in my point of view what I'm doing here wanting to kiss you." She paused, looking at him stare at her. "God damnit, don't just stare at me, say something."

          "Do you really mean all that?" he asked softly.

          "Yeah, I guess I do." She made a face. "I really hate being such a god damn wimp. I don't know what the hell you people see in me…"

          "Sam?"

          "Yes?"

          "Shut up." He pulled her to him and gave her a long kiss, one of which she was hardly ready for but never the less grateful to receive.

          When they pulled away, she had found herself turning red at his gaze and the whole realization of exactly what she just said.

          "Hmph, but you're still a dumb ass sometimes." She stated.

          "I know."

          "And don't think you can shut me up that much."

          "Understandable."

          "Not even with kisses. Because it's not going to work, I'm telling you…"

          He kissed her again. And it did shut her up. It took her a moment to realize what he was doing, and she promptly pushed him away. He started laughing, and she glared at him.

          "Jackass." 

          "Too hard to resist." He grinned. She rolled her eyes.

          "Yeah, well, I still call the shots here."

          "Yes ma'am." He said, gaining control of his laughter finally.

          "Good. As long as we have this agreement, it's settled."

          "Nice doing business with you." He said, amused at her attempts to gain back some of her lost ego.

          "Now that that's out of the way, of course…let's talk about more serious matters. Like how you're supposed to beat me up tomorrow. I really don't feel like getting beat up by my own boyfriend. It would prove Kurt right when he told aunt and uncle that I was destined to be in an abusive relationship."

          "Sam, I think he meant you were the one going to do the abusing." Raven pointed out helpfully.

          "Oh yeah." She paused. "Dually noted, thank you."

          "Anytime."

          "Anyway, so yeah. You're supposed to kick my ass." She paused. "And I'm supposed to fight back."

          "Of course."

          "Everyone I gathered agreed to help." She told him. "And I told them to take it easy on you. So fall quickly."

          "But what about Kurt?"

          "You know, that's true, he probably would go after you, being the bitch he is."

          "Exactly."

          "Well, before the match, I'll make sure he knows he'll lack a few key parts if he tries anything."

          "Such violence." Raven tsked.

          "Okay, fine. I'll give him a chance to run."

          Raven rolled his eyes. "How kind of you."

          "He'll listen. He knows I wouldn't hesitate."

          "I know you wouldn't either, why do you think I went for being your friend then being your enemy?"

          "Eh, you were on borderline for a bit in the beginning. I mean, you did say I could never be a good hardcore champ. But the WAY you said that intrigued me. That's what saved you from me going Carrie on your ass."

          "No no, see, there was only one time you could describe your actions as Carrie-like. And that was when I found you in your room after that happened."

          "Eh, whatever." She smirked. "I don't blame myself for going psycho then. It's a perfectly natural way to handle such a blow to one's ego."

          "Oh really?" he raised a brow.

          "Yes. Well, it would be normal for most other adults. The normalcy of it was mixed with a little Sam charm."

          "Which made it into something scary."

          "Well, perhaps that's the general opinion but it WAS normal to me."

          Raven just shook his head and smirked. "Well, anyway, I'm sort of hungry. Are you? I can get you some stuff."

          "Yeah, just get me whatever you're getting. I'll stay here, you know, since your buddies in the ECW are all uptight now and all."

          "You just don't feel like walking, do you?"

          "And people say I'm hard to understand…."


	17. Suspicions

**Chapter 17 – Suspicions**

**A/N: **…Hi.****

          She reclined on the other bed, flipping on the TV. She was bored, no doubt, and already was regretting not going with Raven. Nothing was on TV. She had a choice of cartoons, news, or bad movies. She ended up watching the news, but she really wasn't listening. She stared at the screen and just watched the pictures on the screen move. She sighed loudly.

          It was a couple seconds later that she heard the noise outside the door. It wasn't a knock, but someone was jiggling the door's knob from outside. This of course struck her as odd, and she leaned over to look at the door as the noise continued. She instantly got a bad feeling about it and, trusting those instincts, she quietly collected her things and went out onto the expansive balcony that their room had. Just as she closed the door to it she heard her own door open. She moved to the corner of it and pinned herself against the wall.

          "Doesn't look like anyone's in here."

          She knew the voice instantly. Shane.

          "Doesn't mean we won't find her stuff in here."

          Stephanie, too, was there. She instantly felt nervous – had they been caught? Maybe it was out of suspicion…

          She started hearing them tear the room apart basically. She wished she could just go and kick their asses, but she couldn't…Raven would be the one to suffer the most. So she quietly stood, hoping they didn't think of the balcony.

          "This is stupid, I can't believe we listened to Tommy." Stephanie whined.

          "He said Raven was acting weird."

          "HE'S RAVEN! HE ALWAYS ACTS WEIRD!" Stephanie huffed toward her brother.

          "As true as that may be, we must check every lead." Shane explained.

          "But I'm missing my important meeting!" she huffed.

          "Listen, you can fuck someone later. This is business."

          If Sam wasn't worried about being caught, she would have burst out laughing. What was even better was Stephanie had just shut up after that comment…

          "Are you done yet?" she asked after a few minutes.

          "Just have to check the balcony…you never know…"

          "Shit." She muttered under her breath. She thanked god her arms were strong because she instantly put her stuff as far as it could go up her arm and climbed over the balcony. Just as he opened it, she let herself step off and tried to discreetly hold on to the bars to keep her from falling. She was just happy there was someplace she could rest her feet against. She ducked her head as he peered around.

          "See anything?" Stephanie called.

          "No. I guess Tommy was wrong."

          He entered the room, closing the balcony window behind him. She let out a breath, even though she knew she was still in deep shit. Even though she got down alright, she realized that the bars were a bit too slippery to actually climb up. She just held on for dear life, hoping that Raven would come back soon. She heard the door open and close loudly, and she knew they were gone.

          She hung there for what felt like hours. She was starting to worry about losing her grip, because her arms were getting tired. And then, suddenly, faintly, she heard the door open again. She hoped that it was Raven and not someone else that time.

          "Sam!?"

          She sighed in relief. It WAS him. "Raven!"

          "Where are you?!" he asked, and she knew that if she could barely hear him, he could barely hear her. Suddenly the door flung open and he stepped out, looking panicked. "SAM?!"

          "I'm down here." She spoke, then winced. Her arms were really burning.

          He looked over the edge and saw her hanging there.

          "Sam!"

          "I would appreciate it if you pulled me up, thanks." She said, straining now. Raven leaned over and grabbed one hand. She managed to pull herself up with his help then, and when he pulled her over he lost his balance. He fell backwards and she landed on him. Both were panting hard, and she collapsed onto his chest.

          "That hurt like hell." She muttered. She got off him, letting go of her duffle bag. He got up too, and hugged her, even though the hug was sideways a bit.

          "Jesus Christ, Sam, don't scare me like that." He said, mid-breath.

          "Well, sorry, but I didn't think it'd be good if I got caught here." She explained, shrugging.

          "Who…what…?"

          "Shane and Stephanie. Came in and wrecked the place, I guess."

          "God." He shook his head. "I thought they hurt you…"

          "Takes more then hanging off the side of a balcony to kill me." She offered with a half grin.

          "Come on, let's get inside." He stood and helped her up. She followed him in, grabbing her bag as she went. She instantly saw the damage that was made.

          Everything was in disarray. Stuff was thrown around, one bed was turned over, all the clothes in the closet and the drawers completely empted on the ground…a total, absolute mess. She sighed, shaking her head, her fist instantly balling up.

          "Urgh! Fucking bastards!" she huffed. Raven sighed.

          "I'm just glad you're safe." He offered. She looked at him and shrugged.

          "And I'm glad I didn't get caught. That would have sucked."

          "And now you're going to stay with someone else until at least the match is over with."

          "Exa…wait, what?!"

          "Sam, you're not going to even sway me slightly with this decision." Raven cut her off. "This is for your own good, and if you don't like it, this is for MY own good. AND peace of mind."

          "But what about MY peace of mind?"

          "Well, my peace of mind is better then your peace of mind.'" He declared with a finalizing tone.

          "Oh, and that's real mature!"

          "Just work with me here, Sam!"

          "I don't want to go." She pouted, trying to make him feel guilty.

          "Too bad." He smirked. "Now, who shall I leave you with?"

          "I vote to stay here." She offered.

          "Sam, listen. I realize you are always one for danger and never backing down, but you don't want them to figure out where you're getting all your information, now do you? You'd be an easy target after that for half-assed plans like they're making. Now, you either nicely find a place to stay besides here or I drag you someplace and have that person lock you in a room."

          "Like you can drag me." She huffed.

          "Try me."

          He suddenly lunged forward and started tickling her side. Instantly she burst out laughing, trying to move away from the touch, cursing the day that Raven had found out about that –one- weak spot on her body. She was starting to feel the lack of oxygen coming to her and finally she managed to blurt out her sign of defeat. He stopped instantly and just smirked at her as she took huge gulps of breath.

          "I'll go somewhere." She muttered, quite unhappily.

          "Good. Great." He nodded enthusiastically. She glared at him, annoyed.

          "I guess I'll stay at Chris's. Or the Hardy brothers. Or even Kurt…naw, never mind, I'd rather sleep outside." She smirked. "I suppose I'm being kicked out now?"

          "Yes."

          "But…"

          "No."

          "But what about…"

          "Here's your bag." He handed it over. "It'll only be for a night, and then tomorrow we have the match and after that night's over I'll come rescue you from the cruel world outside my room."

          She sighed as he ushered her out, but knew why he was so adamant about her getting out quickly. It was obvious by the shaking of his hands – she had really freaked him out when he came in to find the room as it was and her gone. Perhaps that's why she was so easy to be talked into letting them win that time. She carefully made her way to the elevator, trying to figure out who she was going to. Obviously first Chris, because she wouldn't have to deal with more then one with him.

          But, as luck would have it, or disluck…he wasn't there. So she journeyed to the brothers Hardy room, and found a very disheveled Jeff answering it. She raised a brow instantly at the sight, and how he didn't open the door completely.

          "Hello Jeff." She greeted, semi-amused. "You busy?"

          "Kind of." He admitted, seeming a bit jumpy.

          "Jeff, who is it?"

          She could have laughed right there, noting the female tone of the person's voice. It sure wasn't Lita.

          "Jeffery, are you getting laid tonight?" Sam smirked, her tone joking. He turned a lovely shade of red. "Sorry for disturbing you. Do you know where the other couple is?"

          "No, sorry Sam."

          "Hm, alright. Thanks Jeff." She went real close to him. "Remember, make love without the glove."

          "…Isn't it with?" he asked, blinking slightly.

          "With? Really? Damn, have **I** been misinformed." She laughed. He shot her a slightly annoyed look. "Alright, alright, I'm gone. Goodbye."

          He shut the door basically in her face, but she didn't mind. She understood how frustrating it was being interrupted at such moments. But this left her with a problem – no place to go. She didn't know where Lita and Matt were. Contemplating, she looked up and down the hallway, and remembered one person she could go to…

          She knocked on the door, loudly. After the third knock, the door opened, and Spike peered out.

          "Hello Sam." He greeted, opening the door wider. He fumbled with his glasses that he had in his hands and put them on. "What's up? More talk about the match?"

          "Actually, I need to ask you another favor. I need a place to stay tonight, and I swear I wouldn't be bothering you if I didn't need it…"

          "So you want to stay in my room?" he asked, cutting her off from what could turn out to be an excessive ramble. She nodded.

          "Please?"

          "Sure." He agreed, shrugging nonchalantly. She smiled, relieved.

          "Thanks, Spike. It'll just be for a night, I swear."

          He opened the door wider and allowed her in. She instantly noticed how dark it was outside, and wondered what time it was. This whole ordeal DID start pretty late in the day, and she was roaming the halls for a long time…it made sense. She dropped her things in a corner, checking out the room.

          "The usual hotel room." He offered, noting what she was doing. "So, why did you need a place tonight, if I may ask? You and that Raven guy have a fight?"

          "Stephanie and Shane are getting a little too close finding out about him being a basic spy for this company and hanging out with me."

          "He's not that much of a spy, really. Just tells you stuff about what they're planning on doing to you." He paused. "Then again, it would really suck if you got taken out, like they want to do. You're the basic leader of us, even though the real popular wrestlers would never admit it."

          "Leader? Me? No way." She shook her head.

          "Well, you are the only one that has managed to beat basically every person that's gotten in your way. Especially ever since that night when you…" he stopped abruptly, and then quickly cleaned his glasses out of nervous habit.

          "Kicked your ass?" She frowned, remembering instantly of the situation that had happened in her rampage. "Listen, Spike, I'm really sorry about that…I had a rough night and I…"

          "It's okay." He shook his head. "I've heard what happened. I wasn't that badly hurt. Just kind of stunned. Would you like to sit? Some food? I don't have much, but you can take your pick from what I have."

          "No thanks." She declined. "But yeah…so even if you don't think it to be a big deal, I still want to apologize."

          "Apology accepted then, I guess." He gave a half smile, ruffling his own blonde hair. "Um…well, you can have either bed, I don't mind. And the offer of food stands if you get hungry later."

          "Alright." She sat on a random bed, not really caring herself. The room was nearly identical to Raven's, with the difference that it wasn't ripped apart like his was. Very neat and tidy.

          "Are you nervous about that match?" he asked, sitting on the opposite one. She looked at him and shrugged slightly.

          "Not really. I have enough people backing me up, I figure."

          "Well, what are you going to do to Rob?"

          She pondered over this question, because she hadn't actually thought of exactly how she was going to go about it. "I don't know." She replied honestly. "I guess I'll see when I get face to face with him."

          "That's true." He agreed. "That's how I would go about it. Stuff takes you over when you're in situations like that. Like I remember when…"

          She had remembered seeing Spike going off at Austin that one time, before when Molly was still with him. And she was thinking as he spoke of it – would she really let her rage take over again when she saw him again? Was that what she really wanted? She remembered what Raven had told her, and how he didn't approve of her destroying him. She wasn't even really that mad at him anymore, it was getting pointless to keep such aggression to a guy who hasn't even tried to mess with her ever since. She wanted some kind of revenge, beating him up a little, but to no extent that she felt toward him before.

          "So it's kind of like that." Spike nodded, and she snapped out of her thoughts.

          "You know Spike, you're an alright guy." She said, a bit abruptly. He looked a little surprised and embarrassed at the same time. "Really, I don't deserve any friendliness that you always seem to project toward me."

          "I don't like holding grudges." He explained. "Gets kind of old after a while, and you end up being all bitter."

          "There's only a few things I can't forgive, and now that those reasons are gone, I'm pretty much back to normal."

          They talked a little bit more, and Sam, still tired from the activities of the day, decided to go to sleep early. She ended up lying there for a long time, thinking. By the time she fell asleep, it was two in the morning and Spike was already snoring away, not even tossing a little. And all that time lying there…she realized she had managed to decide nothing at all.


	18. The Match

**Chapter 18 – The Match**

**A/N:** Yep…chappy.

          She woke up to the smell of food. Removing herself from the comfort of the pillows lifting her head, she lazily looked around and noted Spike sitting on his bed, eating some form of breakfast item in a Styrofoam holder. She sat up, stretching, yawning quite elaborately. Spike looked up at the movement, finally seeing that she was awake.

          "Food's over there if you want it. I don't know what you like, so I got pancakes. Figured most people like it, so it was a safe bet."

          "Mmm." She mumbled, stumbling over to the food, still half asleep. The smell was heavenly, and god she was really hungry.

          "Not a morning person, are you?" Spike asked, watching her stumble back to her bed with the food. She realized she had forgotten to grab a fork, and knew of the long trek she had to made. So she contemplated a moment, then went to eat her food the messy way. Suddenly she noticed a fork land next to her, pre-wrapped still.

          "Thanks." She mumbled, yawning again. She hadn't even looked up to acknowledge him.

          "Don't mention it." He replied, watching her stuff food into her mouth. "You know, the way you're eating, I'd think you were starving."

          "You think right then." She said, swallowing the mouthful. "Haven't eaten since yesterday morning."

          "Hey, I offered food yesterday…"

          "Yes, but I'm not awake enough to feel any sort of guilt for eating your stash of food. Give me a few minutes."

          By the time she was finished, she was fully awake. She got up and stretched, then carried the food to the waste basket in the room, tossing it in. She turned to see Spike still staring at her.

          "Yes?" she asked, smirking.

          "No, nothing." He laughed. "Just watching the eating rituals of the wild Sam Wesley. It's fascinating."

          "Funny." She smirked. She looked at the clock. "Well, I think…maybe I should get going. It's already 10:30…I'm sure Jericho is back."

          "You don't have to." He offered.

          "Naw, I feel like I've imposed enough. See? Told you I'd get guilty." She laughed. "Just let me get changed, and I'll get out of your way."

          "Hm, if you say so." He shrugged.

          So as soon as she got ready, she bidded him goodbye and left yet again to roam the hallways. Chris wasn't exactly there though, but she lucked out on meeting Lita walking to her own room.

          "Stay with us? Sure Sam, no problem." Lita smiled, easily inviting her inside the nearby room. She walked inside with her and watched her toss the key for the room onto the drawers that held up the TV in the room. The room was a stark contrast to Spike's – very messy. Sort of what she was used to.

          "Where's Matt?"

          "Elsewhere. I told him to go away. The guy's adorable, but sometimes he gets annoying. You know, the southern accent is cute until you start talking it yourself." Lita visibly shuddered.

          "Hey, if you get the accent down, all you need is to dye your hair blonde and call yourself Bobbie Joan or something. Now if that isn't wrestle-worthy, I don't know what is."

          "You have permission to kill me if such an event happens."

          "Understood."

          Lita tossed some dirty clothing off the bed so it landed near a large plastic bag. "So, Sam, you still haven't explained why you're here. You and your buddy get into an argument and much bloodshed was made?"

          "While that sounds fun, no, no argument or anything. Well, not the usual kinds I have." She scowled slightly. "The McMahon siblings are getting suspicious, and Raven condemned me from his room, apparently I'm in danger or something."

          "Leave it to a guy to blow things out of proportion." Lita shook her head. "Eh, it's nice he's thinking of you."

          "I suppose. I guess I shouldn't have hung on the balcony in attempts to not be caught."

          "You did what?!"

          "I hopped the balcony and hung off it for a bit."

          "But your room is like on the third floor up!"

          "Yes."

          "I worry about you Sam. Really." Lita shook her head.

          "I get that a lot. But I think it's an endearing quality."

          "Well, you don't get that Hardcore belt with your sane side, I suppose…"

          She sat down on one of the beds and nodded in agreement.

          "I can't believe that stupid match is tonight." She groaned. "I don't feel like it."

          "Well, you can still kick a little ass. That should put you in a good mood."

          "You know me much too well, Lita." She grinned widely.

          "Who is the match really supposed to be against, anyway?"

          "That Hurricane fellow."

          "Hey, didn't you already scar him…?"

          "I guess that motorcycle ride didn't work. I'm sure once I make him look as though he went through a motorcycle accident, he'll understand."

          "Bet you're going to rough up your ex a little bit too." Lita grinned. "Guy deserves it, of course. I'm surprised Raven hasn't killed him yet himself."

          "He knows if anyone kicks his ass, it's me." She stated simply. "Anyway, Raven doesn't think I should do anything. Or limit myself from killing him."

          "What's going on between you two, anyway?"

          She raised a brow at the redhead, smirking. "…What ever do you mean?"

          "Oh, I don't know. It just seems that you're in an awful good mood all of a sudden. Even speaking to people, which a couple of weeks ago would be unfathomable."

          "So you think I got laid or something?" she asked calmly.

          "Either that or you're the Queen of Fluctuating Moods." Lita shrugged.

          Sam didn't answer, turning herself over to stare at the white-washed ceiling, placing her arm across her stomach with a sigh. Lita raised a brow toward her. "It's weird, right now."

          "Oh." Lita nodded. "Bad weird?"

          "No." she shook her head. "Weird weird. Guess you could say stuff is happening though. It's a nice change from just acting like a lovelorn dumbass."

          "Hate to break it to you, Sam, but you were never lovelorn. You just broke people apart with your scorned rage."

          "Same difference."

          "Hm, maybe to you." She shrugged. "But, well, whatever. We all deal differently."

          "Whatever. I don't even care anymore. I figure…whatever happens, happens. I never regretted a decision yet."

          She knew she just had to keep reminding herself that.

~~

          "I'm going to vanquish you and your evil ways, Citizen Fury." Hurricane taunted as they circled, neither going in for attack.

          "I'm shaking." She smirked.

          He lunged toward her, and she dodged to the left and swung her arm, catching him in his side. They went back into a circle-like position, then locked up. He managed to pull her into a headlock, but he only got a couple of hits in when she used her elbow to free herself. He went after her with a clothesline but she ducked and put him in one of her own headlocks. He thrashed in her grip, and she did let him go, but managed to trip him up. With him on the ground for the split second, she grabbed one leg and smashed it into the ground.

          She did it two more times before he managed to stagger up, that knee obviously stinging as he favored it. She went to grab it but he managed to kick her, which stunned her a second. He threw her against the ropes, and finally connected that clothesline.

          At that moment, she knew it was time to take this outside the ring. She instantly rolled out, taunting, willing him out of the ring. There were plenty of weapons to use when she got in back, better then the ones around the ring. It had worked, perhaps because she was helping him get her into the position to be jumped. He followed quickly, and they battled up the ramp and eventually into the back.

           That was when she grabbed the first thing she could possibly find and smashed it over the head of her nemesis for the night. He staggered, and just barely managed to duck when another hit was attempted. She had mistakenly let a moment pass because he instantly kicked the trash lid back into her face. She held her face, then smiled inwardly – she was going to try something.

          She started laughing. Loudly. Hurricane seemed a bit confused, especially when she continued to chuckle when he hit her with his own weapon. He went again and she grabbed it with her bare hand, which hurt like a bitch but like hell she showed that. Her face had gone serious again, and Hurricane seemed suddenly nervous about her – just like she planned. If she was known as a psychotic person, why not act like one to intimidate? The kendo stick that she had caught – she pulled it out of his hand with a hard tug and smashed it into his head. He moved and it thudded into his shoulder. He held it with a loud outcry.

          A weak point.

          She grabbed him by that arm, making an almost whiplash like effect when she threw him right at the wall. He tried to stop himself from running into it, but he ended up unable to.

          Movement. She saw it out of the corner of her eye. She just barely had a chance to duck her head, only to feel the back air of a swing at her head. A bat? She stood up and turned to see Lance Storm. He swung again and she jumped back. She knew Hurricane was about to attack from behind, the way Lance had tried to secretly look at him. So, when he went to smack her again, she fell completely, and Hurricane, who had indeed tried to charge at her, tripped over her body and found the bat connecting squarely into the same shoulder. He fell over, screaming out in pain. Sam stood up and, using the stunned moment, kicked the bat out of Lance's hand and then punched him exactly where she knew would just rush all the oxygen out of him. Lance staggered back.

          She was slower with her next assailant, but it actually was to her advantage that time. She had moved only a split second before she was hit, and she watched Buh Buh plow into Lance instead, getting rid of any energy he might have had left. She didn't waste any time kicking him hard in the back, the force making him trip over Lance and fall himself. She knew that wasn't the end of him though, and she spotted that now she was definitely getting to the point that she was being outnumbered. She spotted three others – Dreamer, Mike Awesome, and Rhyno…and all four of them were about to destroy her. She backed off a bit, hoping that her back-up was coming soon because she was severely doubting her good fortune that she had with the last three.

          She hadn't noticed that Buh Buh had indeed gotten up because she was too worried about her plans for the other four. He grabbed her by the arms and she instantly tried to free herself, only to find that someone else was helping him. She turned her head to see Booker T had gotten a hold of her too, which of course heightened the weight she would have to fight out of.

          She continued to wiggle and squirm the entire time, as the ECW fellows began to gang up on her. And, for a split second, she saw him – RVD, in the background, standing there and just watching. She wished he would had come nearer so he could have been the first to have his face spit on. 

          "Lookit what we have here, boys. Little Fury the terror." Mike Awesome spoke.

          She just glared furiously at them. Bad mouthing her? She couldn't wait to kick all their asses.

          "Wait wait, gotta wait for Raven." Dreamer said. And Raven was there, because he jumped from a nearby box he had to have been perching on, which of course was exactly like him. She closed her eyes and swallowed, knowing that if her back-up didn't come up and save her back, she was going to have to get beaten up by him, which didn't seem like a very enjoyable thing to go through. She knew he hadn't come over immediately because he was buying time, as many seconds as he could, without looking suspicious.

          "Raven, come on, I want a piece of her." Awesome complained.

          He shot her a quick look that said it all.

          She watched him walk over, trying to look like his usual self, which wasn't that hard since the tortured look that was on his face at the thought of having to destroy someone he cared about fit his usual persona.

          Only a couple of seconds before he got ready to start pummeling, the cavalry finally came.

          The first hits were on the two holding her, and she was instantly freed. Mike Awesome seemed to jump at her instinctively, and, with her newly usable limbs, she stepped aside so the punch missed. She countered with her own fist into his stomach, hard. He staggered back in utter pain.

          More wrestlers from the Alliance had come in. They were finally being smart and kept others around just in case. However, it wasn't a huge difference, and her own forces were doing well fighting. Mike was still after her though, and she finally just got pissed and kneed him as hard as she could. Obviously, it was a pretty hard attack, because he instantly fell into a fetal position.

          Throughout the insanity, she noted Raven was down, but fine really. He was faking unconsciousness.

          Then she saw Rob. Through the entire flurry, he had managed to stay out most of the fight. They stood for a moment, staring at each other. She finally got her nerve back and stalked toward him. He didn't even lift a hand toward her.

          "Go ahead. Hit me." He said lowly when she got close. She was a bit surprised at his obviously display of submissiveness. She already knew she had a decision to make, and she grudgingly decided to do the right thing for once.

          She took a breath and moved to him, grabbing him by the shoulders threateningly.

          "Don't make me regret this. Work with me or I kill you." She muttered quickly, making him stare at her oddly for a moment. As if he finally realized what she said, he gave a quick nod. She threw a fake but none-the-less realistic looking punch and he staged back, as if it was a horrid blow to the face.

          They fought back and forth, each never hitting each other but really putting on a good show. She knew she had to hit him once though, just to get SOME kind of a vengeful attack, so the way she got him basically splayed on the ground was her sudden punch to his gut that probably knocked the air out of him.

          Jericho must have noticed, because he added to the whole charade by pulling her off him. She acted as though she wanted to kick his ass some more but Jericho continued to drag her off.

          They had won, and she realized she had missed the chance of revenge that she had been waiting months to do.


	19. Apart

**Chapter 19 – Apart**

**A/N: **I'm tired as fucking hell…oh, hello. XD

          They had gotten out of the fight with very little injuries, besides a bloody nose that Jeff had sustained.

          But as for the Alliance? Hurricane, she heard, had suffered a slightly fractured shoulder. Lance was still knocked cold. Basically, the first couple of people she attacked. And the funny thing was…she hadn't even tried. She wished already to be able to see Raven. The whole punching thing was totally insane. If they had come a few moments more…

          It was over, though. They all resided now in a large locker room, all sort of coming down from all the excitement of the evening. She saw Chris giving her a couple of odd stares, and she knew he was going to question her about her sudden change of heart toward destroying RVD.

          And they ended up leaving, and she was, as figured, questioned instantly when the last person left the room.

          "I don't know, maybe our thoughts of destroying people are different…but damn, I coulda swore I saw you pulling punches." Chris commented idly.

          "That's because I was." She replied, calmly.

          "You do realize that was Rob, right?"

          "I was well aware of that."

          "And that you've been wanting to get your hands on him since he decided to piss you off?"

          "I remember."

          "Oh." Chris said, sounding puzzled. "…Then why wasn't he in more pain?"

          "I thought we went through this before, I pulled my punches." She smirked.

          "But…why?"

          "Why not?"

          "Well, after saying you're gonna kill him and made everyone in that company suffer until you had the chance…Sam, it was sort of anti-climatic."

          "What the hell do you think I am, a story book character? I can be as boring as I want to be."

          "Sam…"

          "Alright, you want my reasoning. I've been thinking. I've been going about this all wrong. Actually, Spike really woke me up. He said it was stupid to hold grudges. I thought about that. And when Rob didn't even try to attack me, I knew it wouldn't have even been fair to kill 'em." To explain herself further, she used a saying she had remembered using so long ago – "There is honor among hardcore wrestlers."

          Chris seemed to think about this, and shook his head. "I honestly think I'll never understand your way of thinking."

          "Guess I'm just spontaneous." 

          "…Understatement of the year. So, I guess you're shacking up with me for the night?"

          "Yeah, and I'm not even drunk. Isn't it amazing?"

          "Ow, that hurt Sam. It really did." He rolled his eyes. "I CAN leave you out in the cold to fend for yourself."

          "And I can also break you in half in less then three moves." She smiled sweetly.

          "It's nice to see this experience hasn't destroyed your winning personality."

          "Come, Christopher." She joked, linking arms with him. He gave her an odd stare. "…What? I'm being spontaneous, see?"

          "Would you like to go skip through the lilacs now?" Chris asked jokingly. "We can even sing a song if you like."

          "On second thought…" she unlinked arms. "I'd rather kill myself then listen to you sing."

          "People say I can be a rock star." He beamed proudly. "Like Fozzy!"

          "…The bear?"

          "No, they're a band. And I'm even mentioned in their album cover."

          "As someone that they don't like?"

          Chris paused. "…Uh, no of course not."

          They took Chris's car, which was never fun. She hated how he drove. He was worse then she was, not to mention her ears were usually blasted out by the time they got back by his music. She liked rock, but Chris liked the hard and heavy stuff, and loved to play it at one of the highest levels his CD player could take.

          "CHRIS." She finally screamed, trying to get the Canadian's attention. "TURN THE FUCKING MUSIC DOWN!"

          "WHAT?" he called back. "I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER THIS MUSIC!" He turned it down and glanced over. "What was that, Sam?"

          "I said to turn it down. Because if you don't, I'll take my foot and smash your radio system, okay?"

          "Yes ma'am." He rolled his eyes.

          Sam glanced over at the blonde, watching his head move to the beat of the now softly playing music. She couldn't help but admire the fact the guy seemed to be able to space out the minute he heard the stuff. She didn't have that kind of non-living outlet. She needed something like that now. She wanted the closest thing to an outlet she had possible.

          "I wanna see Raven." She grumbled, lowly, almost as if she didn't even want Chris to hear her.

          He did. "Raven told me specifically to watch you tonight. You can see him tomorrow, when things cool down. Don't want to get him in trouble, do you?"

          "I suppose not."

          She was already planning her escape.

~~

          She had helped him. Raven had seen it out of the corner of his eye before he was supposedly made unconscious. He was proud of her decision. Surprised, but proud. Perhaps she really was changing after all.

          He turned in his bed, almost hoping that he'd suddenly find her next to him. It was empty. And the bad feeling in the pit of his stomach continued. He just knew something was going to happen soon. It was a pretty irrational thought, because they had passed the danger but…something was wrong. He just knew it.

          And in the back in his mind he knew that Rob hadn't cheated on her. She still believed that no matter how the night had gone, and he knew she was thinking wrong. It was just too weird. Raven knew Rob. He loved Sam more then life itself, he had even said that to him once. Why would he throw that away with a slut like Stacy? He hadn't even seen Rob ever go near her again. And then, the fact he had given her space all this time, only to risk his neck by coming over that day to make sure she was going to be alright…

          Raven sighed. It really was so easy to see. They had found out and had set him up. They didn't realize it would set Sam off the deep end. When they did, they planned what happened that night. He didn't even need confirmation. He had known it all along, from the minute he got attacked by the person that was watching them.

          Which was the dilemma. He still didn't want to tell her about it. If she believed him, which was highly doubtful, what would she do? Just up and leave him? Rob had so much more to offer then he did. There was one thing he was certain of, though – he would have to tell her. If she would just throw him away like that…then, it wasn't meant to be. He still had that one moment where he almost, almost felt like she had finally begun to love him as much as he did her.

          He sat up, feeling all hope of sleeping slowly leaving him. It was then he heard a light rap on his balcony's window. He ignored it, thinking he was hearing things, when he heard it again. He looked toward it to see a small object hit the window again. He got up, just knowing that it had to be some stupid kid or something, and opened the glass to berate whoever was out there. His room was on the first floor, so he didn't need to look down very far. 

          "Sam?" he said in a hushed whisper.

          "Help me up." She called out quietly.

          Knowing that she wouldn't take no for an answer, he leaned down and helped her up the short ways over his balcony wall and onto the balcony itself.

          "What are you doing here?" he asked, still speaking in a low voice. He led her into the room.

          "I couldn't wait." She admitted. "…And Chris was snoring. I needed to get out of there for a bit."

          "Sam, you know you shouldn't…"

          "Don't. I've already listened to you once, don't make me go away again."

          "Sam…" he sighed, shaking his head. "…Fine. I'll let you stay for a while. But you have to leave soon. If someone caught you in here…"

          She pulled him into a kiss before he could think any further. He couldn't act like he wasn't happy to be able to be close to her. So he went with it, gladly kissing her back. It was starting to get a bit hot, and Raven finally gained his head back and managed to break away.

          "No, Sam, we can't…not yet." He said, his voice almost cracking. "And if we keep going, it's going to end up like that. We can't chance it yet."

          She let out a breath of air, leaning her frame semi-against his own, not speaking.

          "Don't be mad, Sam. It's just that…"

          "I know." She shook her head. "I understand."

          He kissed her forehead gently. "Once everything calms down, we can go back to normal."

          "I guess so." She sighed.

          "Come on, you better go now." He forced himself to say. He already knew he wasn't going to talk to her about Rob that night. She grudgingly let him lead her back out onto the balcony.

          She didn't make a big fuss though. She stole one more kiss from him before jumping down to the ground.

          As she left, he realized he felt something in the hand that had helped her over with. He opened it to find that he was holding the bracelet he had never seen her take off. She had told him the importance of it once, and knew in that single gesture he didn't need to worry about telling her about Rob.

          He silently placed it around his wrist and went inside, feeling as content as he had ever remember being.

~~

          "…She knew about it."

          "I don't know how, Miss McMahon." Heyman offered.

          "She has an inside source." She spat, stating the obvious.

          Even though Heyman knew this was war, he couldn't help but feel the need to help out his men. "…Perhaps not. Or, it might have been someone was speaking to it and someone happened to overhear it."

          "Don't stand up for the culprit, whoever it is!"

          Heyman sighed. "Yes, Miss McMahon. I was just…"

          "Instead of your blubbering, why don't you GO OUT THERE AND FIND OUT WHO IT IS!"

          Heyman exhaled, trying to control his anger. He didn't speak, just sort of glared at her.

          "NOW."

          "Yes, Miss McMahon." He forced out, turning curtly and walking out before he completely went off on her. "What a bitch." He muttered crossly when the door closed behind him.

          Not that he had any intention of helping her look for the mole of the company. Even though his job was on the line too, there was no way he was going to help her when he was treated like THAT. She had gotten them into this mess, she would have to get them out of it. He roamed the halls, wondering if he would catch a glimpse of a wrestler still out at this time of night.

          And he did, and surprisingly it was one of his ECW boys who should have been beaten senseless. But no, there was Rob, walking around as if he was never even hit. He instantly gained a suspicion – was he back in cohorts with her? He had remembered the one who had attacked him had been Sam. But something about how he looked – still sullen, as he had been since the day of the set-up, that eased his thoughts. There was an obvious difference between Rob with his old flame and the Rob without her, and he was definitely still showing signs of the loss that shouldn't have happened. He couldn't help but pity him, especially because he was the one who came out as the bad guy.

          "Rob." He called out, walking over to him. Instantly his 'condition' worsened, as he seemed to have a limp all of a sudden and a pain in his side or around the area.

          "Hi Paul." He said, in the fakest wary voice ever. Heyman held back a smirk.

          "Not a good night, huh?" he asked, raising a brow.

          "Not at all." He agreed. "Beat the crap out of me."

          "You ought to get some rest. Maybe tomorrow you'll feel better."

          "Yeah, thanks man." He agreed, seeming to be happy to end the conversation. "G'night Heyman."

          "Yeah, good night." He replied, walking away. He was mid-step when he decided to comment on the his fake ailments. "…By the way, Rob…"

          Rob turned and looked at him. "Yeah?"

          "If you want to pull off an injury, I suggest you make sure no one's watching when you're not acting for anyone. Stephanie is on a rampage looking for the one who leaked to Sam, and it'd be suspicious if you were caught not hurt." He turned again and this time truly walked away, leaving Rob a bit surprised at the calmness his old boss portrayed. He stopped one more time, not turning though this time. "And…trust your judgment. What you feel that happened to you really happened." And then he was gone, leaving Rob to contemplate those words.

          "I knew it." Rob said after a minute of thinking. He scowled and shook his head, entering his room to think about the new information he had received. 


	20. The Bracelet

**Chapter 20 – The Bracelet**

**A/N:** Chapter 20. Woo.

          "I am impressed." Chris spoke the minute he noticed Sam had rolled over and awaken from her deep slumber. She blinks sleepily, yawning.

          "…Whu?" she asked, trying to sit up but failing to do so. She just let her body drop back into the head, the coils of the bed creaking in protest.

          "You didn't sneak out or anything. I was ready to wake up to see you not there." He commented.

          Sam tried not to smile at this. "Chris, you always think I'm up to something."

          He eyed her. "…You went out during the night didn't you?"

          "Sorry, I have a bad memory. I think last night was blotted out." She continued, with a teary voice, "It's all the years of getting hit with foreign objects."

          "I bet." He responded dryly.

          "I'm shocked at your obvious disbelief. Would you like me to hit you a couple times and see how quickly your memory lapses?" she offered.

          "No thanks. I think getting hit that one time when you went postal was enough for me."

          "Wimp."

          She was finally able to sit up, and pulled the shirt she had on up because it was huge on her. Then again, it was Chris's, so it made sense that it was big.

          "Hey! That's my jersey!"

          "Brilliant deduction." She smirked.

          "That was in my bag!"

          "Yes, and I found it."

          "You went through my stuff!" he accused.

          "Well, if you didn't put the air down so it made the room negative 20 degrees in here, I wouldn't have had to." She pointed out. He sighed loudly. "I'm sorry if I got my girl cooties on your precious shirt. Here, take it." She pulled it off, instantly shivering since she had nothing under it. She tossed it at him, calmly walking to her bag only bra-clad from the waist up.

          "Do you have some strange need to strip in front of people?" Chris raised a brow. She turned, smirking.

          "You're shirtless too! It's gender biased that I should have to worry about going around with a shirt." She huffed. "And anyway, YOU were the one who wanted your jersey back so badly."

          "…Hey, you have your belly button pierced."

          "Hm? Oh, yeah! Innit cool?" she grinned, looking down at it. "I got it a couple of weeks ago."

          "Sam?"

          "Yes?"

          "Put a shirt on."

          "Sexist pig." She joked, grabbing a shirt and pulling it on. "Did I mention I'm cold as hell? You Canadians."

          "What's wrong with Canadians?" he pouted.

          "Nothing Chris." She rolled her eyes. "Hey, where's the food?"

          "Food?"

          "Oh, excuse me, I suppose I have you confused with a gentleman like Spike or Raven. 'Coz, you know, they feed me."

          "What do you think you are, a third world country child?" he shook his head.

          "No, I'm a freeloader."

          "…Fair enough. Want to find a place to eat?"

          "Just let me take a shower." She smiled. "'Coz, if you don't remember, you hogged the bathroom and I just gave up and went to sleep."

          "It's not my fault I have more of a head of hair then you do."

          "And I think it's REALLY sad that you can say that with a straight face."

          "Don't be jealous." He laughed. She gave him a deadpan look.

          "Right. Like I really wanna be a blonde. You know, since that is such a great look for Hardcore wrestlers."

          "I was a Hardcore champ once."

          "I remember hearing about that! You had the title for about a minute, right? Before that Rhyno fellow jumped you?" she grinned.

          "…I STILL had it."

          She shook her head, grabbing some things from her bag and marched into the bathroom. Throwing them on the counter, she turned the shower on and in a minute or two she hopped in. As she washed herself up, she suddenly found herself thinking of all that had happened so far since she went to the WWF. She didn't need anyone to tell her that she was changed. She knew she was. And she knew why…because people gave her a chance. No one really liked her until then because of her crude attitude.

          Chris, and Rob and Raven and everyone else…they had somehow bore into her head that she could be herself without being completely bitchy. She could be strong with friends too, and still not look like one of the sluts that usually are in the ring. However, she still didn't actually know why she had spared Rob from her wraith. She gave the reason, but she wasn't actually sure it was that. She thought about how it all happened, and started to wonder – was it a set-up of some kind? Raven seemed to think so, or at least hint at it. She was starting to believe it herself. Not that it would change anything, because she did love Raven, and she could never just ditch him because she found out her old flame wasn't the sleaze ball she thought he was.

          Maybe that was why Raven never came out and said it...just mentioning it was commendable, though, considering that Raven always did seem to have issues with girls leaving him for someone else. It was only natural he was worried about her doing the same, especially since she and Rob were so…

          But it was in the past. She shut the water off and exited the tub, drying herself off. Just as she finished that, a knock was heard.

          "Calm down Princess." She called, pulling on her clothes. "I'll be out in a second."

          "Sam…"

          Her ears perked up. That wasn't Chris. She finished dressing and opened it quickly, brightening at the fact she was right.

          "Raven!" she instantly gave him a hug, not caring that Chris was less then a foot away staring at them.

          "…For you, she moves her ass AND gives you a hug. For me? I get called Princess and she threatens my life. I don't get it." Chris commented, rolling his eyes.

          "It's the dreads." She joked, which made Raven chuckle lightly.

          "Hmmph. One day I'll be appreciated around here, you know."

          "Would you feel better if I said you had a nice ass?" she offered.

          "…It's a start."

          "What are you doing here Raven?" she asked, turning to him.

          "Couldn't wait." He echoed her words the night before.

          "Please, can you two refrain from making kissy-faces in my room?"

          Sam finally remembered that they were in Chris's room, and did quit the whole sappy attitude. "You're just jealous Chris."

          "Ah, so that means you two are to that point." He realized, nodding his head sagely. "Not that I'm utterly surprised."

          "I'm glad." She smirked, then turned to Raven. "Can I go back into your room yet." The look said it all. "…I can't, can I? No?"

          "Stephanie is going crazy. Ever since last night…"

          "I think I'll go take a walk." Chris spoke up, knowing that his presence was slightly annoying. He did leave, giving a quick wave as he went.

          "…So, no way?" she sighed.

          "I'm sorry, Sam." He spoke, shaking his head. "Oh, by the way…I don't know if this slipped off your hand…uh…here." He jutted out his arm, which had her bracelet on it. He started to take it off but she shook her head.

          "No, I wanted you to keep it." She interjected. "Call it a present for the time being."

          "But this is your favorite bracelet. I remember, you said your mom gave it to you."

          "Well, then you'll have to be that much more careful with it." She smiled.

          "Are you sure you're okay with this? Because maybe it would be good that you stay with your own federation for a while. I'm sure it would make your life much easier…"

          "This war won't go on forever." She pointed out. "So it'll be okay. I know it will."

          "Sometimes I wonder…"

          "Well, that's because you're always negative. Look on the bright side. Once Steph stops going nuts, we'll be back to normal. And then everything will be alright."

          "Well, when you're the one that's optimistic…I guess I have no choice but believe you." He shook his head. "Anyway…I suppose I ought to get going now."

          She knew he was right, but it didn't stop her from being completely depressed over the matter. So she didn't say anything, in fear her stubborn side would come out, and faced the facts. She pulled him into a fierce kiss, allowing herself to memorize how it felt, because, no matter how optimistic she was trying to be, she had this feeling things were in the making of happening. She felt him pull away, and cupped her face in his hands with much gentleness.

          "Don't get into trouble." He warned. "And be nice to Chris. I don't think his little heart can take your assaults."

          She managed to crack a smile, almost even laughing. "I think it's his little ego that takes a beating."

          Raven just rolled his eyes and patted her shoulder. "Be good, Sam."

          "Yes mother." She smirked.

          After another kiss, he was gone, walking out of the room as abruptly as he entered.

~~

          Precariously walking down the hallway away from the room, Raven let out a large sigh that seemed to echo through the empty white-washed hallways of the hotel. Inside, though, he didn't think the sigh was enough to express his annoyance at the entire situation. He shouldn't have to leave her like that. He shouldn't have to worry for her safety. If it wasn't for the damned Alliance-WWF battle, he wouldn't have to worry about this at all.

          When he left the WWF, he hadn't known her. He didn't even know Kurt Angle even had a female relative that was not a lesbian or disfigured it some way, mind or body. But he knew his choices would have greatly changed if he did. He wouldn't have thought twice about not leaving the WWF. It would have been a given. But it wasn't how it went. He should have known that the minute he started speaking to her, the minute he realized her ploy…

          He brushed the thought from his mind. He loved Sam, and he never would act as though she hadn't gotten him through the last couple of months. Before he had met her, he was better off dead. He didn't have anyone to speak to, never mind anyone to call a friend. Jericho, especially, who had given him a sympathetic glance when they crossed paths as he was leaving. Jericho would have never been nice to him if she hadn't given him a chance. He never quite understood her thought pattern, besides the theory that he was so damn cryptic the first time they met she couldn't help but search him out. He knew what he was thinking, and how he knew he would likely get punched in the jaw for speaking to her like that…

          But the night he had really seen her…not the match they had, but when Rob had brought her to the bar…he was instantly intrigued by her actions. She seemed so vicious and wild, with no inhibitions. He knew instantly though, that she would end up with Rob, one way or the other. Her face had etched exactly how she really felt about him. When she had left, and Rob just looked kind of dazed, he should have realized then not to get involved…but he did anyway, and then it progressed to what it was at that moment. Where she looked at him with the same utter affection, not giving a shit about who saw her…

          And, besides the anal retentive Kurt, no one seemed to mind.

          "What a dumbass." Raven heard a sneering voice call out. He stopped a few feet from the edge of the wall, suddenly feeling as though he needed to listen in.

          "Who?"

          "R-V-D." the other spoke, this time letting out a short laugh. He sounded like he was completely drunk.

          "What? Why?" asked his companion.

          "Y'know what Steph did? She found out the jackass was dating that bitch Sam. You know, the one that could acts like a guy? I bet she IS one, ha ha!"

          "Best lookin' man I ever saw, then."

          Raven controlled his anger and heard a slap, as if one had hit the other.

          "You stupid? Saying shit like that gets people suspicious, especially the almighty McMahon siblings. Anyhow, I was jes remembering something. Yanno how I said Rob and Sam were all dating? Well, I was the one who saw it. That's why Stephanie likes me."

          Raven's eyes opened in shock. He inched a little forward.

          "Yeah, see, I saw it ALL. They were hugging and kissing like idiots. Then that dope Raven came up behind me and scared the crap out of me. You know that bump he had for a bit? That was from me."

          "So how did Stephanie break them apart without Rob knowing?"

          "Far as I know, he set the idiot up. Stacy went and did her slut thing and Sam went nuts. That's why we've been suffering. Scorned rage is what she's been feeding on. I pity anyone who has to enter the ring with that psycho. Why do you think I faked my injury last night so I didn't have to be back up? 'Coz I knew what happened last night would happen."

          "Yeah, her backup was strong enough. I don't know how a bitch like her can make friends like them."

          Raven took a breath. He knew he had to act as though he heard nothing. Gathering himself up, he walked over to the elevator, noting the two who were speaking. Shawn Stasiak was obviously the one who was drunk, while the one he was speaking to was Justin Credible, and they gave him dirty looks when he walked up behind them, acting as if he just got there.

          "Raven." Justin acknowledged.

          "Ha, look who we have here. Raven, I heard you've been screwing around with Sam too."

          "Sam who?" he said calmly.

          "The chick that's just as weird as you." Shawn answered, smirking.

          "I don't know what you're talking about." He shook his head. "I got my ass kicked with the rest of you. My leg's not the same since last night."

          "He's got a point."

          "Heh, why would a catch like her like him anyway?" Shawn rolled his eyes. Raven tried not to lose his temper.

          "Right, and I see people flocking to meet you. Last time I checked, all you've been doing is kissing ass instead of getting it."

          Justin looked shocked at Raven, as did Shawn. It seemed that gone were the days of a very quiet, very easily targeted Raven. Usually when he spoke back, it usually was so cryptic that the diss was lost to them. But this time, he was so clearly attacking Shawn that he couldn't even really say anything back for a moment.

          "W-Well, you suck!"

          "Excellent response. Your witty negative IQ banter has punctured me harshly." He responded dully.

          Shawn, seeming confused, answered as proudly as he could: "Damn right it did!"

          Justin rolled his eyes instantly at the response, echoing the thoughts of Raven exactly. As he passed them to get in, Shawn caught a glimpse of the bracelet around his arm, a sharp contrast against his semi-tanned skin.

          The wheels started turning the moment he realized that it looked like an awfully familiar trinket that he had seen Sam have on.


	21. Attacked

**Chapter 21 – Attacked**

**A/N:** Heh, new chappy. XD

          "This game isn't as fun with just two people." Jericho sighed.

          Sam lowered the cards from her eyesight and yawned. She whole-heartedly agreed. The fact that they had been playing it for two hours hadn't helped its case. She dropped them all finally on the bed, then rubbed her eyes. Jericho took the hint and gathered them up as she plopped down on one of the pillows on the bed.

          "What do you want to do now?" Sam asked, tilting her head up to look toward the blonde Canadian. He shrugged.

          "Dunno." He replied. He put the deck into its holder and tossed them onto the nearby bedside drawer. He plopped down next to her in the same lying position.

          They both went silent again, lying side by side in of course the most platonically of ways. She wondered what Raven was doing just then, not even having the luxury of a best friend to be able to just stare at the ceiling with. She glanced over toward him again, rolling his eyes as she heard the faint humming of a tune emitting from his lips. She didn't know what it was, but knowing Chris, it was a hard rock or metal song.

          "Chris?"

          "Yeah?"

          "…Do you think it's okay?"

          Chris rolled over, his blue eyes clouded over with obvious confusion.

          "What do you mean?"

          "Me and Raven." She answered, staring at the ceiling still. "You think it's okay?"

          "Well, I would think so." He answered. "After all, in this country, you can basically date anyone you want, I've learned. In the middle states it'd even be legal to date Kurt if you wanted."

          "…That's just disturbing. Please don't ever plant that mental picture in my head ever again." She shuddered. Chris laughed.

          "Sorry." He apologized. "Why are you asking me this, anyway?"

          "Well, since I know Kurt will never be okay with this, I need someone to say that it's okay that I'm with him."

          "…You're asking me for my blessing?" he asked, sound surprised.

          She finally rolled over and faced him. "And what if I was?"

          "Well, then I would have to feel a bit honored to take the family place in this." He offered. She shrugged.

          "Well?"

          "…If he makes you happy, Sam, it wouldn't be right for me to say I don't condone it."

          "So you don't like me going out with him?" she asked, raising a brow. He shook his head.

          "I never said that. I just said, as long as you're happy, then I'm fine with it. If it wasn't for him, you would still be locked away in your hotel room, never to speak to anyone again." He pointed out. "And you can't find anyone more loyal then him if you ask me."

          She knew he had added the last line to compare him to Rob. Sam shook her head. "…I'm over that, you know."

          "I know." He answered, understanding instantly what she meant. "If you weren't, you would have broken Rob in half last night."

          "If Rob had been unfaithful, I don't think I'd had stayed mad at him forever." She explained.

          "If?"

          "Chris, what did you see that night?" she suddenly asked. "When I ran off, what did you see?"

          "Rob kissing Stacy, why?"

          "Are you sure it was like that? Exactly?"

          "…What are you getting at?"

          "Think, Chris."

          He seemed to think about it for a moment. "Well, actually, Rob didn't seem…into the kiss, from the beginning. But maybe it was because he knew you were there?"

          She went back to lying on her back, looking upward. Jericho seemed puzzled at her questions.

          "Why?"

          "Because that's why I didn't hit him. I was thinking about it."

          "About what?"

          "About how this all happened. Stephanie was detaining him – and I know that's true, because Raven had seen her basically drag him off the minute he took a breath. And then suddenly, for no reason at all, he decides to go bad guy on me. Did you ever think he'd do that?"

          "No." Chris admitted. "…If he was gonna do that, I'd think he'd at least dump you."

          "Exactly." She sat up, looking over toward him. "Now that I'm clear-headed really, out of all the rage for now…"

          "You don't think he really kissed her?" Chris guessed. She nodded affirmatively.

          "Yeah."

          Chris sat up too, crossing his legs in an Indian-style way. "…So what does that mean?"

          "That he didn't cheat on me, if you can't figure out my stating of the obvious."

          "I know that, but what does that mean? Are you going to go back to him?" Chris asked curiously.

          She didn't answer for a long time. Sort of stared past Chris out toward the moonlit sky seen from the window. It was a good question. Would she? If she ever found out for sure, what would she do? Raven loved her as much as Rob ever did, and it would kill her to leave him. She couldn't bare to see him heart-broken. He had walked her through the stuff Rob wasn't there for, and it had to have been ten times harder to deal with then anything she had put Rob through. She was insane for a while there. Probably legally, even. But he never once gave up on her…

          "I don't know." She finally said. "I guess I'd have to wait…for that moment. Decide then. Because I don't know; I don't even want to think about it."

          Chris frowned a bit, but nodded. "I see."

          The subject was dropped instantly after the awkward silence passed.

~~

          Raven didn't know why he felt uneasy. He had come back from one of those fun-filled Alliance meetings where he couldn't help but feel like Stephanie was looking at him with an angry stare every time he got up. He figured it to be just his imagination though. His nerves and his guilty conscious making him see things. She kept talking about the 'mole', or something, and how he or she had to be stopped. He didn't really enjoy hearing that, considering the fact that he was the guilty party. Just him. Rob really wasn't apart of it anymore.

          He hadn't worn the bracelet there, instead placing it in his pocket during the ordeal. He kept absent-mindedly touching it, as if he was afraid it would fall out or something. He knew if he wasn't worried about what they were planning against Sam or even the WWF, he would have already left the company and tried to get back into the good graces of Vince. He'd do it if it meant he could freely be with Sam, with no repercussions. But he had to keep himself in the company. He had to make sure they weren't up to something.

          He had to protect her.

          It felt like the moments that transpired suddenly were in slow motion. Suddenly a loud crashing sound invaded his ears, and he only had seconds to sit up to see two people had entered his room. Before he realized it, the two went after him, and he scrambled off the bed, falling hard on the ground. They had missed him that time, but with him prone on the ground, it didn't make it hard to stop him from escaping. Raven, still semi-shocked, cringed the minute he felt his attacked grab a handful of his braids, pulling him up forcibly.

          His neck was forced to crane as he felt the one who had a hold of him trap him completely in his grasp. The other attacker went into view and Raven, through pain and all, still glared toward him.

          "Shawn." He hissed, and the talking caused the one behind him to crane his neck even more. He cried out in pain.

          "Looks like we have a traitor on our hands." Shawn sneered.

          "Come on, man, he's strong."

          Raven knew the voice. Hugh Morris. He should have figured.

          "Give me a second. I've been waiting to do this to you a very long time."

          He wound up suddenly and smashed his fist into Raven's midsection. He let out a yell of pain, twitching, trying to bed down as much as possible. He took a breath just before he was punched again. Sagging, his breath ragged from the force of just the two blows, Shawn took a break.

          "Now, we can make this easy or we can make this hard. You tell us where Sam is, and I'll make this quick." Shawn spoke simply. Raven looked up at him, knowing it wasn't even worth feigning innocence. Instead, he tried to get out of Hugh's grasp, and when that didn't work, he stopped and looked Shawn straight in the eyes.

          "Go to hell." He boldly spoke, and literally spat in his face, showing the same stubbornness Sam had showed the night before.

          "You're just as stupid as I thought."

          Shawn produced a bat he must had been holding, and before Raven could even ready himself for the hit Shawn slammed it into him. Raven clenched his teeth, tears forming at the corner of his eyes, but he didn't allow them the pleasure of hearing him scream out in pain.

          "Now, I'm going to repeatedly hit you with this until you tell me. Enough incentive yet?" Shawn asked.

          "I like pain." Raven managed to spit out, a strange smile forming on his face. It was enough to freak Shawn out a little, but didn't deter him from hitting him again. Raven sharply let out a gasp of pain, but the smile remained unwavered.

          "You're a joke, Shawn. A screw up. You can't even hit me with all your force." He challenged. Shawn looked furious.

          And Shawn did exactly what he knew he would. By that time, Hugh had moved his hand from his hair to his arms, and so when Shawn went to smack Raven over the head with the bat, he used his weight to propel himself downward and Hugh upward. The bat actually smashed into Hugh's back, and in that instant he was freed.

          It was a short lived victory. The pain shot up through his body instantly, and he doubled over and clutched his midsection in an attempt to stop the pain before it was too late. He managed to dodge an attempted hit, but it just hurt him further. He knew he had to get out of there, there was no way he could fight Shawn off when he had a bat, never mind when he probably had broken ribs.

          He staggered toward the door, but Shawn had caught up and smashed the bat so hard into his back the bat shattered and Raven was sure one of his bones did too. He fell forward, falling onto his equally sore ribs. Curling in a fetal position, he felt blood came up and he spit it out, shuddering from the pain racking through him. Shawn stood over him, smirking.

          "In pain now?" he asked, almost innocently. Raven stared up at him, his mouth bloody from the stuff coming up. It wasn't a good sign. Still, he breathed deep, managing to speak again.

          "I've been beaten bloodied, destroyed, torn apart all my life…and you're the biggest kiss ass I've ever had the unfortunate luck to be hit by." He insulted, too stubborn to even wince as the pain continued to run through him. That did it.

          Shawn started really hitting him, beating him and making him bleed from other sources. He was picked up and slammed into the nightstand. By the time he was done, Raven was fighting for consciousness, as all he saw was red. It stopped, because he heard faintly Hugh telling Shawn to stop, that he was going to kill him.

          Raven guessed Shawn hadn't even realized how far he was going.

          "Shit." Shawn spoke. "Shit!"

          "…Let's get out of here, Shawn." Hugh pleaded.

          And they did, leaving Raven lying there, completely immobile. A fucking hit and run. Raven knew the pain wasn't a good sign. He knew all the blood was a bad sign. He knew his short of breath was a bad sign. He knew the fact no one knew he was there was a REALLY bad sign.

          And he quietly hoped he wasn't going to die without seeing Sam one more time.


	22. Discovery

**Chapter 22 – Discovery**

**A/N: **Yeah…it continues.

            Rob was walking in the hallways for some unknown reason. He just felt he had to walk somewhere for a while. Stuff was going through his head a lot now. Mostly Sam-based thoughts, of course. He was still surprised she had decided not to destroy him. He knew he deserved it, but for a different reason. She thought he had cheated, that was her thought pattern. He wanted her to destroy him for letting himself get set up. How could he be so stupid? He had lost this person he truly, utterly loved. He knew even if the truth came out, there was a chance she wouldn't come back to him.

          He envied Raven so much. He could be near her any time he wanted. He could hug her and comfort her; she looked at him like a friend and a companion. He missed her looks period, even the ones she shot him when she was pissed. He was the happiest he had been since the break-up when she looked at him with utter anger. It's why he wanted to face her that night. He just couldn't take being so far from her anymore. Perhaps this was what she realized when she didn't beat him up as he figured she would.

          He raised a brow, suddenly seeing people bounding right at him. He stopped; stepping aside to watch Shawn and Hugh run by as if they had seen a ghost. Rob scratched his slightly unshaven chin, confused. He looked down the hall, and then down when something caught his eye. Leaning down, he touched a strange spot that must have dripped off one of them as they ran. Looking at his finger, he watched as the red liquid ran down his hand.

          "Blood." He said to himself. "What the hell?" He stood up, flicking it off his hand and looked down the hall. There were more droplets dotting the area. They sure didn't look like they were the ones leaking it. A ball formed in the pit of his stomach, as if he knew something was just terribly wrong. He speed walked, hurrying down the halls.

          It didn't take a genius to realize the extent of the trouble once he stopped at a smashed door. He entered without hesitation, turning on the closest light possible. He felt his stomach almost turn over at the sight before him. Blood splattered everywhere. And, even worse, there was Raven. He was lying prone on the ground, his own blood covering nearly the entire top half of him. Fighting the urge not to puke as this had to be the worst sight he had ever seen, he instantly was by Raven's side and rolled him onto his side as carefully as he could.

          Instantly Raven started coughing, the blood that was starting to accumulate in his mouth exiting to fall on the already blood-soaked rug.

          "Raven. Jesus Christ." Rob used pillows to keep him propped on his side; he knew the way the blood was coming out he would drown in it if he didn't. He grabbed the covers and tried to clear off the blood to find out where it was coming out, since it was obvious it wasn't just from his mouth. He was tempted to call for help, but he knew if he did before at least trying to stop the blood-flow Raven would die. He found the wounds, and to cover them he pulled off his shirt and started ripping it to shreds, making crude bandages. He started to wrap them around wherever he saw needed it.

          "Rob?" he suddenly asked, his voice raspy. Rob looked at him, shocked he was even still awake.

          "Don't speak, buddy." Rob said. "Rest."

          "…Where's Sam?"

          "I don't know. I can't leave you yet. I need to stop the bleeding I can stop."

          Raven seemed to try to move but instantly his now semi-cleaned face was masked with pain. Rob frowned, starting to worry.

          Rob only knew Sam had entered when he suddenly felt a hand grasp his ponytail and wrench his head backward. He let out a gasp of shock, and he found himself facing an irate Sam.

          "WHAT IS THIS?!" she demanded, pushing him hard into the wall. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO HIM?!"

          "Sam, no, it wasn't…"

          She punched him in the face. He let out a cry as he felt his nose probably breaking. She was about to hit him again, but a single voice stopped her.

          "Sam?"

          She turned her attention from him in an instant.

          "…It wasn't him." He managed to say in a loud whisper. She went to Raven's side as Rob continued to hold his now bleeding nose.

          "Rob, get help. Right now." She commanded sharply. He nodded, more to himself, and ran out of the room, holding his nose slightly as he went. Sam looked over her half-destroyed boyfriend in utter horror.

          "Oh my god, Raven. Raven, what happened? No, never mind; don't speak. Please don't die on me."

          The words had come in one breath and were said quickly as she instantly starting panicking at the realization just how bad off Raven was. Raven, however, didn't listen to her.

          "Sam…" he trailed off, lifting his hand, no matter how much the pain hurt him. She reached out and lightly took it with her own.

          "No, Raven, don't…"

          Raven had a coughing fit, letting up some a little more blood. She started really feeling terrified.

          "I think I'm dying." He said softly, trying not to notice the tears beginning to stream down Sam's face.

          "Don't say that, Raven. Please don't. I can't do this without you." She pleaded.

          "Sam…listen." He spoke slowly. "I heard…Sam, Rob didn't do a thing. Don't be mad at him." He took a small breath. "…I wanted to tell you but…"

          Again he stopped, this time shuddering slightly. She knew it had to be killing him to even speak slightly.

          "It's okay, Raven. Just…don't speak."

          "I…have to get this out." He insisted.

          She frowned, trying to control herself from completely losing it.

          "…I love you, Sam. I'm glad I could tell you that…one more time."

          "It won't be the last time. Help is on the way." She argued. He gave a faint half-smile, his face a bit saddened looking.

          "Touching you, feeling you…this was worth it. This pain was worth those moments…you made me whole, Sam."

          Sam felt the tears sliding down quicker now. She was starting to really wonder about his chances of survival. "Raven, don't leave me."

          "…I'm trying not to." He offered, trying not to show his pain as much. "I'm trying…but Sam…if I don't make it…don't lose out on any happiness…anything, anybody you can find…don't let life pass you by. Sam?"

          "Yes?" she asked, leaning forward.

          "Please…hold me, for a while." He pleaded. She seemed hesitant, knowing stuff had to be broken inside him. "Please, Sam."

          And she did. She carefully pulled him into her lap. He clenched his teeth in pain, but let out a sigh the minute he was situated. She partially cradled him, his blood now running on to her. She didn't care. She stroked his face, not knowing what else to do.

          "I love you." She whispered into his ear. He smiled again, acknowledging her words.

          "This is all worth it." He repeated, his head lulling to the side. "Sam…"

          His eyes closed. She felt her heart almost drop. Had he died?

          "Raven? RAVEN?!"

          At that moment, the help had arrived. The people instantly rushed to him, and she was forced to untangle herself from him and give the paramedics room. Rob touched her shoulder as she watched them starting to work on him vigorously.

          "I'm sorry, but you two have to leave." One spoke to them.

          "What?! I have a right to stay here!" Sam instantly argued. "I want to ride in the ambulance with him."

          "I'm sorry, miss, but we need all the room we can get with this."

          "I am not…"

          "Sam, come on." Rob instantly said, seeing a fight in the making. "I'll drive you there, okay?"

          "But…"

          "You'll help him more if you take your friend's advice." The paramedic stated simply. She seemed to be stand-fast still, but finally sighed and backed down, allowing Rob to pull her out as they put him on the stretcher carefully, all speaking about different things wrong and how he's doing.

          She was drenched in his blood, and she noticed Rob was too. As the stretcher with him in it was rushed out, they followed it, all the way out to a waiting ambulance in the parking lot of the hotel. When he was put in, and Rob again had to stop her from complaining about not being able to go, they watched it drive away.

          "Where is your car?" she demanded, her eyes still streaming tears slightly. "Come on, hurry up."

          "It's over there."

          In no time, they were following the vehicle in complete silence. Sam was shaking now, the effects of seeing her boyfriend half dead finally hitting her. She stared out the window, trying to stop what felt like unstoppable tears from falling. What if he died? She kept asking herself that. What if he was gone? How could she go on? Why hadn't she come earlier…?

          "They're doing everything they can." Rob offered, as if reading her mind.

          "He's going to die." She whispered, her eyes down casting to her feet.

          "No he isn't." he assured.

          "How can you say that? Half of the blood in his body is on a cheap hotel floor!" she said, suddenly angry. Rob didn't flinch.

          "If you give up on him he'll die for sure. He'll make it, he's a ECW star. He's been through hell and back."

          She wiped her eyes angrily, trying to calm her emotions. "He said I was worth dying over. How am I supposed to respond to that? No one should lose their life over me and my fucking selfish ways. I should have never gotten involved with him, he wouldn't have…and he wouldn't be…"

          "Involved?" Rob asked. He couldn't stop himself from questioning it.

          "Rob, I love him. I know I shouldn't be telling you this…I'm sorry. But god Rob, what if…what if he dies? What am I going to do?"

          "You'll get revenge on the bastards who did this." Rob said, still keeping his eye on the roads. He didn't want her to see the pained expression that instantly came into being the minute he found out the new information.

          "Like I even know who did it." She sighed. "Like I'll ever know who did it…"

          "Now that's something I can help you with." Rob said quietly. She looked toward him.

          "What do you mean?" she asked, sitting up.

          "I saw 'em running off. How do you think I found him? Shawn and Hugh, the bastards. Guess they realized how smacked around he was and ran off."

          "They did it?" Sam asked. Her face seemed to instantly darken at the mere mention. Rob noted it when he glanced her way.

          "You can't do anything about it now." Rob reminded. "So if you want to do some aggressive tactics against them, I suggest you keep it in until you at least know about Raven. You don't want to take it out on a doctor or something."

          Sam sighed, not answering, but her slow slouch into the car's seat answered for her. She would take his words to heed. She tried not to notice the blood that was soaking into her clothes and caking on her skin. She didn't have a chance to clean any of it off. When she saw it, it made her want to puke all over again. But at the same time, she couldn't keep her eyes off it, how it so easily stained her once pure white shirt…and she wondered, with a shudder at the thought, if the stuff that was on her would be the last thing she touched of him that was warm.

          By the time they reached the hospital, new tears had begun to fall, though this time she had control of herself more. In fact, she had suddenly become oddly calm. Rob, seeing she had managed to sedate herself for a second, finally started checking on his nose. He allowed the pain to come through a little, and he winced just touching it lightly. It was probably broken. She had one mean right hook when she was mad.

          When he looked up, she was already gone, probably entering without him. He sighed, shaking his head, walking toward the double doors to the inside himself. Rob just knew that this was the start of a very long ordeal.


	23. Waiting

**Chapter 23 – Waiting**

**A/N: **HAPPY DAY TODAY!! AND HERE'S A CHAPTER!! YAY!!! XD****

          "How is he?"

          The doctor regarded her with a frown. She might not have been noticing she was drenched in human blood, but he sure did.

          "Perhaps we should get you…"

          "Enough with the formalities, doctor." She said. "I'm covered in my boyfriend's blood, I just spent a car ride with my ex-boyfriend, and I'm REALLY not in the mood to now to wait until I'm to your approval in looks to find out how Raven is."

          "Miss, there's no need to…"

          "Just tell me how he is." She insisted sharply, getting more agitated.

          "Fine." The doctor agreed after a pause. "Your boyfriend is being treated for extensive blood loss. He's sustained a fractured rib and two other bruised ones. He has internal bleeding too, from where we're trying to find. I won't lie to you, he's in bad shape."

          "Is he going to live, that's what I'm asking."

          "I don't know, to tell you the truth. It'll all really up for grabs right now. It can go either way." The doctor explained, sounding sympathetic. "Please, try not to worry so much. We will tell you exactly what happens when it happens."

          "When can I see him?"

          "Listen, until he gets stable, the only thing that will help him right now is for you to calm down and wait patiently."

          "Calm down?! CALM DOWN?!"

          "Sam. SAM." Rob caught her arm just in time, as she looked ready to let a fist fly. His grip tightened a little when she tried to wrench it free, and stopped when she found she couldn't. "Let's sit down and let the nice doctor do his job, m'kay?"

          Sam let out an annoyed huff. "You let him die and you're gonna wish you never came to work today."

          She pulled Rob this time away, Rob mouthing an apology to the doctor as they went. He let go of her arm and she plopped into the worn looking waiting chair. She noticed people staring at them, and she gave them all a hard glare. Instantly their eyes went to other places of interest and she was left to only deal with Rob. He sat next to her quietly, trying not to piss her off since she was already about to go off at a moment's notice.

          "Fucking medical system." She grumbled. Rob squirmed in his seat, feeling pain shoot up through his nose again when he tried to touch it.

          "Listen, Sam, can I go get my nose checked up?" he asked.

          "Why?" she questioned sharply, making him flinch.

          "Um…well, see, you kind of punched it before and it's going numb. That's usually not a great sign."

          Sam sighed loudly; she had forgotten about that. "Yeah, you better get it checked up."

          "…You sure you're gonna be okay?"

          "WHAT THE HELL DO I LOOK LIKE?! A PITY CASE!?" she asked loudly, gaining stares again. "What the hell are YOU people looking at?" Most of them looked startled and looked away, almost fearful.

          Rob inched away from her. "Point taken, just calm down and relax. I'll make sure they fix it up quick." He offered.

          "Whatever." She muttered, leaning more into the seat. Taking that as a signal to go, Rob turned and walked to the counter.

          She looked at her red colored arms. Perhaps now she would allow herself to clean up. She got up, asking a random nurse where she could find a bathroom. She looked startled at the blood that was caking on her skin and clothing, but when she explained what had happened she sort of gave her a sympathetic look and pointed to a nearby bathroom. She decided to let the nurse slide for looking at her in the way she did. She didn't like being treated as if she was some poor soul needing comfort.

          When she got into the single bathroom, she flicked on the light and went over to the faucets. She stared at herself first, noticing that her face was streaked with blood too, making her look like a deranged car crash victim or something. She cleaned her arms first, watching the blood go down the drain as the water sprayed on it and loosened it off her skin. After 3 minutes, she managed to get most of it off and her arms were back to their usual tanned-brown color. She nearly jumped when a knock sounded out.

          "I'm busy in here." She called.

          "Excuse me, Miss, but I thought you might need this…"

          She recognized the voice as the nurse she had talked to earlier. She opened the door to find her holding a plain gray shirt. She held it out toward her.

          "What's this?" she questioned.

          "I remembered I had an extra shirt in my locker. I thought you might want to change out of your blood stained one." She explained. "I mean, you don't have to take it, but I thought it might be better to be in a clean shirt then what you have on now."

          Sam couldn't help but smile, even though really all she was thinking about now was Raven. She accepted the offer, taking the shirt from her. "Thank you."

          The nurse just smiled and nodded. "I hope that whatever reason you're in here for is solved."

          And she left. Sam closed the door and instantly pulled the still wet shirt off her back. Upon inspection, she saw just how bad it was. Completely covered in blood. She could barely see any white on the front. She knew it wasn't any use to salvage, so she tossed it in the garbage. Her middle section was red too, and so were her pants – for obvious reasons. Her pants she could deal with, since they were black anyway. She just put water on them and scrubbed off as much she could. She did a quick job with her midsection too, trying to wipe off some of the color of red. She pulled on the shirt after a bit and decided to just ignore it. Finally she cleaned off her face and dried it.

          She was actually glad she was rid of most of the blood. It reminded her too easily of the sight of him bleeding everywhere. An involuntary shudder passed up her frame and she turned to the door and left the bathroom, almost afraid of staring at her own face in the mirror. Once the blood was cleared off she realized just how depressed and worried she looked, and that made her remember that she felt the same way. It was making it harder to ignore it when she saw herself looking like that.

          She went back into the waiting room, sitting in the same seat. There were still a couple of the people she remembered seeing there from the beginning, and a lot of newer people too. A woman was crying in one corner. A little girl played near Sam's foot while what she guessed was her mother sat and watched her, looking as though she was fighting tears herself. All around her, people were depressed or upset or crying. She was understandably getting annoyed by it so she decided to just close her eyes and not think about it.

          And all the stress must have gotten to her, because she found herself falling into a semi-deep sleep.

          She dreamed of the last time she was in a waiting room. She was so little then, the tender age of ten, and it was about a week after her mother and father had died. They found their bodies in the ocean; they pretty well intact for two that had been in such a horrible tragedy.  The hospital wanted them to identify the bodies. Kurt and she didn't have any place to be taken to, so they were really forced to bring them along. A nurse had sat with them as her realities did what they had to do.

          "How are you?" the nurse had asked her, quietly. She didn't speak, instead looking at her feet dangling off the chair, staying more near Kurt's side then the nurse's. "I'm sorry your mommy and daddy died."

          She felt tears spring to her eyes at the mere mention, and a few rolled down her small cheeks. She sniffled lightly, wiping her nose with her hand. She didn't like the nurse talking to her. She kept asking her questions and reminding her. Kurt had to have noticed the deteriorating of her mood.

          "Why don't you leave her alone?" Kurt asked quietly. The woman looked a bit shocked at his outburst.

          "I didn't…"

          "I can watch her, why don't you just leave. You're making her cry." He pointed out, sounding annoyed. Sam looked at her older cousin and bit her lip, surprised that he was actually daring to defy an adult.

          And the nurse did leave, because she hadn't been made to stay there. Her aunt and uncle didn't ask her to sit there; she did it on will. Sam was glad to see her go. She had started really crying by then, though, obviously reminded of the fact she wasn't going to see her parents again. Kurt put an arm around his younger cousin, trying to calm her crying.

          "It'll be okay, Sam." He promised her. "Don't cry." He let go of her a moment, hopping off the seat to get a few tissues. She handed them over to her with a small frown.

          She wiped her eyes and blew her nose, calming down finally. "They died 'cuzza me."

          Kurt frowned, kneeling in front of her. He knew he enough not to use the conventional way of comforting her. "They died because of you, huh? So you made that storm?"

          Sam looked down. "Well, no…"

          "Mmhmm. Well, then you must have been the one that made the plane fall?"

          "…No."

          "Well, I don't think, then, you did it." He concluded. "I think it's safe to say you'll be free of all charges, wouldn't you say?"

          Sam stared at Kurt with a quirked brow. "…But…"

          "So you're not allowed to blame yourself anymore." He scolded lightly. "Not at all. And I'm pretty sure your mommy and daddy don't blame you either."

          Sam looked at him with a deadpan expression. "I wouldn't either if I was dead."

          "I heard this from a reliable source…come closer, this is a secret."

          Intrigued as any 10 year old might be, she leaned forward to listen to her cousin's words.

          "I heard that when people get hurt and die to you know, people like us, they go up into the big light in the sky…"

          "The sun?" she blinked.

          "The sun…? Oh, no no. Not THAT light. It's something only people who pass on can see. Well, they go into it and they go to a place where they can still watch you. And I don't think they'd be very happy to see you moping around."

          "…They wouldn't?"

          "Nope! I've known them longer then you, you know. I should know these things. So what I'm gonna do, since they'll be watching me too I bet, is try to go back to as normal as possible." He explained.

          "…They're watching me?" She asked, obviously not believing him.

          "Yep."

          "Then why can't I see them?"

          "Because then they'd scare the pants off your aunt and uncle. Your mom knows about my mom's heart condition." He grinned.

          "Oh." She answered, then blinked. "…Okay."

          "You all better now?"

          "…Guess so." She scratched the back of her head.

          "I'm glad." He stood, ruffling her hair. "You want some candy?"

          "Auntie said that to me an' Uncle said I was being paid off." Sam informed him. "Whatever that means…"

          "That means I'm giving you free food." he offered. She gave a half-smile, sliding off the chair and grabbing his hand.

          "'Tay." She agreed. "I wanna be paid off more often, then."

~~

          "Sam, wake up."

          Rob had been attempting to wake her up for the last half hour. She kept talking about free food and something about her cousin. It was like a conflicting nightmare-dream. Any dream with Kurt had to be bad, but free food was always a plus. Either way, the girl had lapsed into a deep sleep – or a coma, perhaps. He shook her once last time, saw she still didn't wake up, and finally sat down and gave up.

          His nose wasn't broken. Bruised, but not broken. He didn't really mind that she had done it. He understood how it had looked. He would never hurt anyone like Raven was hurt though. That was just vicious. Cruel. He could be dying and the two obviously didn't even care when they left him lying there. In fact, if he hadn't even noticed them running, Raven might still be in the room, or even dead right now.

          And Sam…

          He looked over at her lying there, seeming to finally have found calmness in her sleep. He almost felt bad that he had to wake her up soon. The doctor had already come over and told Rob that he would know enough about Raven's condition soon enough.

          Rob just hoped, for Sam's sake, that he wouldn't die. She already lost her parents, and then Rob himself by reasons outside his control, and now if Raven died on her…

          He didn't even want to think about it.


	24. Revenge

**Chapter 24 – Revenge**

A/N: We're winding down…just a few more chapters.

          Sam woke up to find that she had somehow found her way onto a pillow. And then she started feeling the pillow move. She was startled enough to sit upright, and she had found she had fallen against Rob sometime in her sleep, and Rob had fallen asleep too. When she sat up, he plopped right back against her. She must have been propping him up. He startled awake when he impacted against her arm, opening his eyes quickly as though he had been shocked. She sleepily glanced at him, yawning.

          He, on the other hand, scratched his head and looked around. "Where am I…?" He seemed to snap out of his daze instantly when he remembered. "Damn, I must have fallen asleep."

          "Brilliant deduction." She replied, stretching. She yawned loudly. "…I wonder if Raven's stable yet."

          "I'll go…"

          "Ms. Wesley?"

          Sam looked past Rob to see the doctor standing there. She instantly stood up herself, her heart leaping to her throat. She tried to read his expression, but found herself unable to.

          "…How's Raven?"

          "Well, everything seems to have gone well enough. He's stable now, we stopped the bleeding inside, and gave him the transfusion. His ribs, though beat up, can be mended. Now all we can do is wait and hope he comes out of his coma."

          "He-He's in a coma?"

          "His body has had a lot of shock, you must understand. We believe he will make it but I never make promises. However, if you'd like to see him, please come with me."

          Sam turned to Rob, and he nodded to her. "Go on. I'll wait here."

          She forced a smile and turned around to follow the doctor. They passed by many rooms and many people walking around, and ended up going into basically the areas where the intensive care units probably stayed.

          "He's pretty beat up, I will warn you." The doctor informed her. She looked at him, shaking her head.

          "No worse then watching him bleed onto me." She replied quietly. "To see him coughing up blood and claiming that death was going to take him."

          "I'll give you a few minutes alone." He said, patting her shoulder before leaving. She walked in slowly, as if almost not wanting to see him. In her mind, she knew once she saw him half-destroyed, it would be reality. And there he laid, dozens of wires and tubes entered into his skin, bandages and stitches littering his body. He looked…dead. In fact, she figured he would be considered that if not for the very pained looking labored breathing he was doing and the soft bleeps of the heart monitor by his bedside. She knew he wasn't in pain though. He had to be pretty heavily sedated. She kind of stood and stared at him in shock for what seemed like hours. When she finally moved forward, she was greeted with the sight of just how badly ripped apart his body was. He didn't see all the little scratches that needed stitches that dotted his midsection, and she didn't even need to see under the bandages to know that his midsection that was covered up probably was already black and blue.

          She silently took back the comment she had made, this…this was ten times worse. At least all the wounds weren't seen with the blood flowing over them. When she finally made it to his bedside, she fought another urge to break down, since the sight made her want to turn and flinch or throw up or something that would not be pleasant. 

          "Jesus." She uttered, looking him over up and down. Despite the fact he was in such a bad condition, he actually looked peaceful. Kind of like a dead peaceful, which of course ruined the whole realization that he didn't look like he was in pain. She sighed and touched his hand, trying to make herself feel better by realizing that he was still warm to the touch. That meant he wasn't dead. That meant he was still inside there somewhere.

          She didn't even know where to start. She had never been by a person this hurt. She even started wondering if her parents were as mangled as he was. She got that out of her head, quickly. That would definitely put her over the edge. She didn't actually know what to do. On TV, when people were standing as she was, they usually talked to them as if they were up and awake.

          So she tried it out.

          "You know, you have to give me the biggest headache sometimes." She mused, resting her hand against his. "Scaring me half to death like this. And look at you, you let yourself get beat up this much? For what? For me? You know better. You should have just did what they asked. I know they wanted me..."

          She sighed. "…But whatever. Guess yelling at you won't help. Hell, if you were awake, you'd probably talk all dutifully that you must protect me and whatnot. And I'd tell you not to bother, even though I would know you wouldn't listen. You've always been stubborn as hell." She looked at his scratched up face. "But that's why I like you, because you were always the only one who could talk sense into me. You can go back and forth with me for hours and I'd get so tired that I'd just give up and let you win. So that's why you can't die on me. I might go crazy one day and no one's there to stop me. Then what, Raven? It'd be all your fault because you died on me."

          She realized she was crying again. She rubbed her eyes, a bit angrily. "…See what you're doing to me, now? Crying and blubbering like a kid. Even Rob saw me crying. He's the one who brought me here, you know. I knew he was innocent too, even before you told me. I was telling Chris that a little after I snuck out to see you and…well, you know. I think Rob even saved you, and helped me out even when I almost broke his nose. So it can't be that bad, right? …It doesn't matter. Because you're still here. And I refuse to let you leave me. You never gave up on me, and now I'm not going to give up on you. You're going to wake up and we can go back to normal."

          She bit her lip, looking down. "….Please, Raven? Please say that I'm right?"

~~

          Rob knew he was shouldn't have listened in. He just felt compelled to listen to her talk to him. She sounded so…sad. It wasn't a normal sad. And he knew that Raven was now really the part of her life that he had lost. He wasn't really surprised, though. Raven was always there where he wasn't. And he made her happy. Rob suddenly realized anger was boiling inside him.

          Why did it have to happen to Raven? How could two humans do this to another? He knew Sam wasn't going to get revenge for Raven for a while. It came to him easily – since that was a fact, why not put matters into his own hands? It was the least he could do for her. He turned from the door and started walking away with much intent.

          They would pay for what they did.

          He felt what he figured was what Sam felt when she went primal. Just a pure, utter hate that ate at him. He barely noticed Jericho until he hit into him.

          "Rob!"

          Rob looked at him and Jericho actually took a step back, his darkened, completely pissed look surprising him.

          "Excuse me. I have to attend to something."

          "Rob, wait a second!" Jericho caught his arm. "What's going on?"

          "I'm going to kill the bastards." He muttered.

          "Which bastards?"

          "The ones that nearly killed Raven." He pulled his arm out of his grip and continued walking. "…You can come if you like."

          Jericho stared after for a moment, then quickly followed. He had a feeling that he had to watch Rob more then he had to watch Sam.

          Rob didn't care that he drove recklessly. He just wanted to get there and find the damn idiots. He figured already where they might be. It all led to one girl. Heyman had said to trust his instincts, and his instincts told him he would have to shove Stephanie's head through a wall for all the shit she's put him through. His instincts told him to beat Shawn and Hugh unconscious. Not to the point they had gotten Raven, but enough so they'd get the point.

          And his instincts told him to leave the Alliance, even with a small threat of not finding another job. He couldn't…WOULDN'T…be apart of something that hurt their own members like a wild pack of dogs.

          "What are you going to do when we get there?" Jericho asked.

          "Get two chairs and beat the shit out of Shawn and Hugh."

          "They did it?"

          "Yes."

          "How do you know?"

          "They ran past me, leaving a blood trail right to him. That's how."

          "Oh." Jericho looked down. "…Damn."

          "You couldn't possibly understand unless you see him. How bad off he is. He looks like he was hit by a truck."

          "Does Sam know…?"

          "No. I didn't tell her. I figure I owe her this much." He explained. "She loves that guy and she won't get revenge for him for a good while, the way Raven is."

          Chris frowned when he heard Rob's voice crack a little at the mere speaking of Sam loving Raven. He didn't comment on it. Rob easily found his way back to the hotel and pulled into the first possible spot. His car stopped with a loud screech. They both got out, and Rob didn't bother waiting for him. Chris just did his best to keep up with him. There was no one Chris would stop him then. He was way to far gone. It just kept repeating in his head, the sight of Sam absolutely beside herself with panic, and the realization that they almost made a man die instantly…

          He would find them, no matter where they were. He stomped into the hotel, barely noticing people watching them as they walked by. What he did realize, even in his anger-induced state, was that he really didn't know where they were, and it would be pretty pointless to burst into a whole mess of rooms. He needed to find someone who knew something. He contemplated questioning the man at the desk, but he knew the man would probably end up calling them and letting them escape.

          He found his answer in Lance Storm, who was suspiciously hanging outside. He seemed to be waiting for something. He didn't immediately see Chris behind him, but when he did, his eyes kind of got wide and he looked as though he was about to take off running. He didn't get far. Rob caught his shirt and tugged him back. He threw Lance into the wall, pinning him to it.

          "Where are they?"

          "Rob?! You working for her too?!"

          "Tell me where they are or I'll beat you viciously, got me?" Lance, who was still bruised up by Sam, seemed to squirm at the idea of more pain.

          "Alright, alright. They're in Stephanie's room. She'll never let you in." Lance pointed out.

          "She will when you call to her." He smirked wickedly. "Chris, take him."

          Rob tossed the poor man to Jericho, who sighed and held him tightly. "…Are you sure you want to do this? You'll be fired on the spot."

          "I don't want anything to do with people like her. I'd rather be without one in that case." Rob turned from him, shaking his head. "Let's go. I have a little vengeance to pay out. Save Sam the trouble."

          "You're the leader." He agreed, shrugging. He pushed Lance forward. "Get going, idiot."


	25. Fear of The Future

**Chapter 25  - Fear of The Future**

**A/N:** *ahem* …Hi? ^^;; *sees angry crowd about to kill her* I really wish I had an excuse for not writing besides the usual 'FUCKING WRITER'S BLOCK!' But sadly…I don't.  Honestly, I haven't really written in…2 months, at least. Guess I was burned out. But a new rush of creative ideas has made me go back into the same ol' thing…and another story will follow this one, the TRUE final part in this insane series. This isn't the last chapter though – the next one, however…yep.

                Jericho knew Rob had completely lost it. He seemed very intent on causing some sort of bloodshed. It was no wonder why he never blew his top – when he did; he was out of control. He didn't even bother trying to talk sense into him – wasn't going to work. He just dragged Lance along and hoped Rob's mind would snap back to being normal. He wasn't counting on it, but he really had nothing else to do besides that.

                Poor Lance – Jericho felt bad for him, because he probably didn't know anything and was just asked to be a look-out. Still, he did as he was told, and Lance did too – he showed them where this room that held the two who attacked Raven. Rob was already ready to smash the door down, but Jericho, with his level-headedness, knew that was a bad idea.

                "No, dude!" he hissed, unable to physically stop him because his arms were currently full with holding Lance back from running. Rob surprisingly did stop, half a step away from the door, and turned to look inquiringly.

                "We can't just rush the place." Jericho explained. "This could be a trap. A big one. I'm sure they're ready for everything…."

                "I'm ready for…"

                "Can we please just make a plan?" he pleaded quietly. "Just in case."

                Rob smirked a little more darkly then Chris was used too. "Alright then. We force this idiot to ask for them to come out. Then we beat the crap out of them. Agreed?" Without waiting for an answer, he looked at Lance. "Tell them to come out, Lance."

                Lance tried to look indignant, even though he had no way to break free.

                "This really isn't a good id…" Rob cut Chris off by grabbing Lance from him, throwing him into the wall lightly enough not to make a noise but hard enough to make him wince in pain. He pinned his neck against the wall.

                "Talk. Now."

                Lance gulped, uncomfortably squirming, and nodded once. Rob turned his head to Chris, who wore a slightly awed look. He definitely never thought quiet and soft-spoken Rob had this kind of anger in him. He knew he was an ECW wrestler, but still…Rob losing his cool? It was so foreign.

                "What do you want me to say?" he managed to squeak out.

                "Just say to come out. And you say anything more and I will hurt you." Rob threatened. Lance nodded again, slowly, and Rob let his neck go so he could speak, but still had him in a hold he couldn't get out of without really squirming and thus pissing Rob off even more. So he bowed his head and, after Chris knocked on the door when Rob motioned for him to do, spoke.

                "Steph? It's me, Lance. I have to report something to you." He said, trying not to sound strained. Chris didn't blame him, he wouldn't want to piss off Rob in any way.

                The door opened and as it did Rob smashed Lance's head against the wall, successfully knocking the guy out in one hit. The person who opened it was Hugh Morris – and Chris, with nothing else to do, jumped toward him, fists flying. It caught the man by surprise, and they both fell backwards and Hugh landed back first, with Chris on top of him, punching him in the face. He heard footsteps running toward him, but suddenly he felt something pass over him and upon looking up he found Rob had caught a bat mid-swing that was aimed as his head. Rob pushed the bat into it's holder – Shawn. Shawn was caught by surprised and smacked in the stomach. He staggered back and Rob threw the bat to the side. He knew, even in his rage, he didn't want to go too far. Shawn punched him, and stared in shock as Rob acted as though it never even happened. He shoved him back, past a screaming person – Steph, he realized -  and slammed him into the wall.

                It didn't take long. By the time Rob was done, Shawn was a bloody mess on the ground, his nose probably broken and his whole face probably swollen. Hugh didn't fair well either, he was out cold and already bruising. Rob stood up, turning to see Stephanie moving to run. He caught her arm and threw her back into the chair. She let out a slight whimper as he stood over her, glowering.

                "R-Rob! You are so fired…h-how DARE you…!" she sputtered.

                "I wouldn't want to work for a bitch like you if you paid me a million dollars." He spoke angrily. "How dare me? HOW DARE YOU! You…you destroyed someone just to get what you want. Do you not have any heart? How could you…?!"

                "It's business." She said coldly, firmly. That did it. Rob picked her up by her shirt, ready to completely kill her for not caring at all.

                "Wait, WAIT." He only lowered her wiggling form a little at Chris's voice. "You don't want to do this, Rob…you'll be just as bad as her. Let her go."

                Rob seemed to think about it, then finally she let her drop. She fell back into the chair. Without another word, he turned and left the room, brushing past Chris in silence. Chris turned to follow.

                "…Thank you, Jericho." He stopped at the words, turning around to stare at her.

                "I didn't do that to save you." He said quietly. "Hell, you deserve to get every single bone in your body broken in half. You don't care about anyone but yourself, Princess, and that's sickening to more then just Rob. You hurt someone badly today. He might even die. Only the most soulless person in the world can have no remorse with that kind of guilt. It wasn't for you Steph…it was because I didn't want Rob to have that on his conscience." He turned and started walking out. Over his shoulder, he continued, "I'm going to enjoy picking apart your company a hell of a lot more now."

                After he left her standing there speechless, he found Rob a little bit away from Lance's still form. His headwas bowed and his face was hidden under his half taken out ponytail. His shoulders kept rising and falling to the long, deep breaths he was taking as they entered and exited his lungs. He could see the slightest shivering going through him, and he had to wonder that, now that the rage probably left him, he was feeling the physical drain. He approached cautiously.

                "We need to get out of here, Rob." He spoke quietly. "She's probably calling security right now."

                Rob sighed, pushing himself off the wall. He glanced at his hands – soaked in blood because of the fighting. Flashes of his discovery of Raven hit him and he felt sick to his stomach. He swallowed the need too and nodded once in agreement.

                "Yeah, let's go." He muttered lightly.

                When they moved back to the car, Rob just slumped into the seat, closing his eyes for a moment. It was noted his breathing labored and he seemed like he was in a calm daze. But in truth, he kept remembering everything that happened and it continued to make him sick to his stomach. Also, the slow realization of what just happened was sinking in, and what was to come out of his actions. "I don't have a job anymore."

                Chris nodded slightly. "Yeah, you don't…but when Vince hears what you did…he'll let you in the WWE. It's as simple as that. Raven too, when he gets…better."

                "…I don't think he's going to get better." Rob continued quietly, almost mournfully.

                "You don't know that…!" Chris protested. "He might be awake right now!"

                "I hope so."

                Chris paused, quiet for a moment. He glanced toward him. "…You really don't think he's going too…?"

                "He lost a lot of blood. And before I heard the nurses talking about how bad he looked…I'm just saying…"

                Chris sighed, nodding. "I know…but for Sam's sake, I hope he pulls through. He's been her rock since you and her…" he stopped mid-sentence, realizing he didn't want to bring –that- up.

                "…We broke up." He finished. "I know he has been. That's why I'll always be in debt to him…he can take care of her better then I ever could…even if she would never admit –anyone- could take care of her. Whenever I couldn't stop her…he did. I know that now. I understand. And if he dies…I don't know what's going to happen."

                "I know, man. I know. I'm worried about it too."

                They both sighed at the same time, thinking of the consequences that would come from losing Raven if it came down to it. Not only would they lose a friend but Sam…

                …It might be the last straw.

~~

                Sam continued her vigil beside Raven's bedside. She wasn't stupid. She knew he was getting worse. Hour by hour, he was growing more pale. It was as if his life was draining from him. The doctor told her that the only thing they could do is wait. That he wasn't stable enough to test in too many ways. The blood transfusion worked, but he still looked like he was getting very frail…and it scared her. She had the horrible picture of being without him and she couldn't take it already.

                Even before anything happened, he always understood her…

                He saw all her moods and still would console her – or knock sense into her, as the case once was. He loved her for her, and even through the hardest moment could look at her with all the devotion he would have in their happier moments. And what could have been his last words…

                It made her tear up, thinking of what he said. It was all worth it? She was worth dying over? She was worth this? She already knew she couldn't live with herself if he…

                An awful thought kept coming to her head, about the moment when he ultimately died from those wounds he had acquired from the attack. She kept trying to think positive, but everything was so bleak. How would she 'keep living' like Raven asked her too? How? It was impossible. If he was gone, it would be the third and final straw in her life. It was too hard to imagine not having him around.

                Yet reality was harsh and with his condition staring her in the face, she knew she might have to face it. She didn't know how she would react, but she knew she might have to find out whether she wanted too or not. She heard the doctors talking, as low as they tried to be. She knew they weren't giving him good odds. And she knew in her heart the same thing.

                She took his slightly cold hand and sighed. "I know this is hard, Raven, but come back if you can." Her talking was below a whisper and almost couldn't be heard by normal hearing. "…If you can't, I'll…have to understand. I know they say you're not going to make it…that your body has been hit too much…they say you might even be hurt more then they think." She sighed. "…I don't know what to do, Raven. I always came to you when problems came up. Now who can I turn to? No one ever understood me on the level you did…"

                His silence was unnerving and again tears threatened to spill. "But regardless….if you're not getting through this, I won't be mad at you. I could never be mad at you, Raven. So if you're holding on for me only, don't. I think you've done enough for me to never be nice to me again." 

                It was as if he heard her, because his seemed to get a little colder and his heart rate dropped just a tiny bit. She noticed it automatically. She stared at him for a moment, and realized that perhaps somewhere that had reached him. Somehow he was holding on just because of his concern with her well being. And it hurt for her to allow her to let go, but she knew that it was the right thing to say. "…Don't stay alive if you won't be able to function for me, Raven. Just don't."

                And she turned and walked out to tell the doctor that his stats were starting to fall at an alarming rate, even though inside she knew he would be dead by the next day.

                She didn't start crying until she told the doctor and was alone to her tears.


	26. Gone

**Chapter 26 – Gone**

**A/N:** Yep, this is the last chapter in this story. Look out for the upcoming story (which will be the last) in this series, title pending. Thanks for reading. ^^

                She sat in the waiting room, her legs pulled up to her chest. It was an uncomfortable position on the small flat-cushioned chairs, but she just had the distinct need to make herself as little as possible. Her stomach had been lurching since her realization that there would be someone bringing her the news her boyfriend was dead soon. While most people would try to remain upbeat, she couldn't…not with the sign she was given. Raven was holding out for her. With the simple words of the allowance of him leaving, he was already deteriorating. So how could she think there was hope? It was already consuming her and she was fighting the need to just completely lose herself…

                It would be so easy to snap. She could murder if she wanted too. She sure was angry enough. Angry and sad at the same time, and the feelings were battling each other massively, creating a torn feeling. And the guilt…guilt, that was beyond description. That was the thing that was eating her the most. This was all because of her. All of it. She brought pain to all she touched. This was just yet another reminder, albeit a large one.

                With this thought pattern, she knew she wouldn't be staying any longer. Would be leaving once he dies. She couldn't face anyone… she didn't want this to happen to anyone else.  She wouldn't let it happen. If it meant her being alone all her life, so be it. It was starting to even hurt to breathe, but the physical pain was some sort of departure from the mental. The mental was the one driving her bonkers…

                She didn't notice the doctor coming up to her until he was basically hovering over her. She looked up, pushing the locks of her hair away from her face, and instantly noted the stern, sad look. She knew what she was going to be told.

                "Miss Sam…we couldn't…there's nothing we can do for him. He's still alive but…it's only because of the machines."

                She felt her stomach cramping inside. This was worse then hearing he was dead. "…How much of a chance…"

                "Very little. And since you're listed as his family representative…"

                She really couldn't hear him, because she already knew what she was going to be asked. Her heart beat was the only thing she could hear. How could they put this kind of responsibility on her shoulders? How could they ask her to…

                "It's up to you, Miss Sam."

                She felt like crying, but she didn't. She remained stoic, almost to the point where she really wasn't all there. "…Let me see him one last time."

                "Of course." He replied somberly.

                He was different looking this time. Hooked up to even more stuff. And so pale…it was obvious why they didn't give him too much of a chance. The doctor told her why he was dying, but she didn't hear him. Just stood and stared at his body, the reality of the situation really hitting her. She was going to have to choose to let him die. It was bad enough she had to deal with his death, but now she had to deal with the realization she signed his life away. It wasn't really a hard choice, of course. He was going to either die or stay in a coma until he died another way.

                The doctor left her alone with him. She looked him up and down, seeing how truly bad he looked, knowing the right thing to do…it hurt, knowing how easy the decision was. Knowing there was no chance.

                "You're a little bastard, Raven." She spoke, almost laughing so she didn't burst into more tears. "Putting me in this position…if you weren't so fucking heroic and awake, I'd kick your ass. And you know I could…"

                The beeping of his heart was little comfort to her as she paused, wiping the couple tears that started to fall. "Yeah, making me cry too. You're not supposed to leave me like this, either. But…I'm trying to understand. I really don't want you suffering anymore because of me. And…I know you told me to keep living, but…well, I will…no suicide thoughts here, I have enough points against me. But…I hurt everything I touch, you being the case in point…so I'm leaving. It's for everyone's own good. I don't know why I'm telling you this…" She looked down. "I guess I just keep hoping you'd open your eyes and tell me to not even dare try it or something…well, I guess it's goodbye to you first."

                She leaned forward, kissing his head so very lightly. His skin was very cool. It was a rude awakening, to say the least. He really was going to die. She was really going to let them take him off support. And she cried again, and didn't hold back. She cried for everything that had happened to her, with this added adventure in pain. And she cried until the doctor came in and softly asked her what she wanted to do. She didn't hesitate.

                "…Take him off." She spoke quietly, looking down. The doctor patted her on the back and for some reason she felt like snapping it off. She contained herself. "…Can I stay in…?"

                "Of course."

                So, in minutes the doctor was ready to go and she held his hand, offering some kind of support she hoped would reach him wherever he was. She watched his breathing turn violent and rapid, deep, quick gasps…and finally, one last one. The line on the heart monitor was flat and its screeching single tone was the real final straw in all of it. Really made her realize what had happened. Raven was gone. The first person to ever understand her just took his last breath.

                "I'm leaving now." She spoke in a whisper. "…Everything else can be taken care of by Mr. Rob Van Dam and Mr. Chris Jericho. I put all the responsibility with them now."

                "Miss Sam…"

                She didn't let him speak. She just turned and walked away, suddenly very hard-faced. She was already planning. No one will even see her leaving, and she was going to keep it that way. It was easier for everyone, she figured. So, with much ease, she hailed a taxi and left to the hotel.

                And just at that moment, Rob and Chris arrived and parked at the hospital.

~~

                "…He WHAT?!" Rob's mouth dropped considerably.

                "…What do you MEAN he died?" Chris echoed the surprise.

                "Miss Wesley has put all other decisions in your hands, Mr. Van Dam."

                "…Miss….SAM! Oh crap, Sam! Where…do you know where she went?!" Rob demanded quickly. The nurse shook her head.

                "She called a taxi service and that's the last time I saw Miss Wesley." The woman answered, obviously clueless.

                Rob turned to Chris, and their faces said it all. Both were already worried. "…You don't think…?"

                "Who knows. We have to get her…where the hell is Angle?!"

                Their answer came when they looked at the waiting room area and saw him sleeping in a chair. Rob was just about ready to kill the guy, but Chris stopped him. "Deal with him later…let's go find her…!"

                "The doctor needs to speak to one of you." The nurse objected instantly. "We need to know…"

                "THIS IS MORE IMPORTANT!" Rob yelled. Chris noticed he was shaking and he shared the sentiment, but he had to stay calm for the two of them.

                "Listen, Rob. Go find her. I'll stay here. Alright? Problem solved."

                Rob looked at the keys that were dangled in front of his face. He knew Chris's car was faster, so he took it and ran back out to the car, almost smashing into two people as he went. The car wouldn't start, however, and after a minute it finally roared to life and he quickly drove to the only place he knew – the hotel. He hoped to god she went there.

                It didn't take him long to get there. He parked and ran in and instantly went to the desk.

                "Tell me Sam Wesley didn't sign out." He said in a rushed, panting breath. The man stared at him, then nodded.

                "Just left a minute ago…but why do you…?"

                She had to be outside, in that case. That was the first thought that came to his head. He exited the building, yet again almost barreling over people, and looked around. No sight of her. He made haste to the parking lot, and it was there his luck changed. She was all the way at the end, he saw, and was getting into her car.

                "SAM!" he called. She ignored him or perhaps didn't hear him. The car started and started pulling out. He stood in its way, and she was forced to stop. The window rolled down.

                "Out of the way, Rob." She spoke, eerily calm.

                "No. Sam, where are you going? You can't leave!"

                She got out of the car. "…Move, Rob."

                "Not until you listen! I'm not letting you go." He advanced, going near her. "Not again."

                "Rob…" she trailed off.

                "I know this is hard, but we'll help you through this…I promise."

                She looked down for a moment, then looked up again. "…Rob…?"

                "Yeah?"

                "Sorry." Suddenly her fist went flying and smashed squarely into his cheek. It was so hard it left him reeling, and he vaguely remembered her pulling him to the side and the door shutting again. When he came back to reality, she was driving away, and by the time he staggered up she was out of the parking lot and was gone. His cheek throbbed as much as his head did. She was gone. And the way she acted, she wasn't coming back.

                He fell to his knees, looking down, actually feeling a few tears springing up. He failed again. He didn't stop her. She was gone forever, and he messed up the only chance to stop her. If he had only not gone to get the revenge…if he hadn't snapped…

                She might not have left. It was painfully obvious. He stayed there until a guard came and told him he had to leave, that he was trespassing.

                He headed back to the hospital and told Chris and Angle.

~~

                She drove until she could barely keep her eyes open. Had no destination. She would figure it out soon. She sat in the ratty hotel she found and did nothing but stare at the wall, a void shell once again. It was going to be a very lonely life, and she was actually happy about that.

                No one would be hurt.

                Maybe she'd go back to normal and not care.

                She just wanted the pain to leave. She wanted to have a set plan so she wouldn't ever have to see her past again. She knew she was really running away but…it was for a cause. She didn't want anyone hurt, thus she left. She wouldn't ever burden them again. So it was okay. They'd get over it.

                "…Sam…"

                The voice startled her. She looked up and almost had a heart attack.

                "R…Raven?" she spoke, staring at the figure.

                "…Hello Sam." He spoke lightly.

                Then he disappeared.

                Hallucinations. She couldn't believe it already was getting that bad. With a sigh, she flopped back, closing her eyes. She would figure out what to do. She would never contact them ever again. It was over. Her past life was already a distant memory.

                She wouldn't want it any other way. Hard as it would be, this was the best for her. At least, that's what she hoped. If this new way didn't work, she would have nothing to turn too, and that thought scared her.

                She fell into a fitful sleep.


End file.
